Shinobi on the Blue Sea
by axellon2008
Summary: A slight change during the Fourth Shinobi World War causes Naruto be sealed into an unfamiliar 'world of drunken dreams.' It's a place filled with pirates, where merely sailing on the sea is a fight for survival.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I do not own Naruto or One Piece

During the Fourth Shinobi War

Chapter 1: Entering a new world

x-x

Looking over the pebbles on his grid, a pair yellow eyes narrowed. 'I don't like how this is going. I didn't think the two jinchuuriki would be in play so soon or end up meeting those two. I sent them specifically away from most of the fighting areas for later use of their dojutsu. This could be a serious setback if they managed to get captured and sealed,' acknowledged Kabuto as he tried to keep track of all his Edo Tensei ninja and viewing the situation through the eyes of the reanimated Nagato and Itachi, he decided to take a more direct approach.

x-x

Stopping suddenly in the midst of the battle, Itachi felt what little consciousness he had left fading away. Now withe full control, Kabuto ordered the body to find it's target, Uzumaki Naruto, and step things up a bit as the blonde with the yellowish-orange chakra cloak was proving much more formidable then the last time they had met. Activating the Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi left his fight with Killer B and moved to where Naruto and Nagato were fighting.

"Don't bother attacking that summons. He'll keep multiplying the more you hit him. Attack me instead," Nagato yelled to the youth from his greenish bird mount. He was still had consciousness left and could at least provide some assistance the blonde in thwarting his summoning animals.

Using the chakra cloak to help him start forming a rasengan, Naruto was halted by the arrival of a giant red chakra construct to his left. Eyes widened as he looked over the still forming body, the blonde recalled Sasuke forming something similar the last time they saw each other but that was a very different color. Realizing that Itachi was walking towards him and intended to either double-team him with Nagato or get between then, Naruto continued to form a Rasenshuriken before pulling back and throwing.

The odd whistling of the technique filled the forest as the bright blue attack sped towards the still forming chakra entity that was Itachi's Susanoo. The impact and quick activation of the technique prevented Naruto from seeing whether it was successful as a huge sphere shaped chakra ball erupted from the much smaller initial technique. The fallout uprooted trees and Naruto put his hands up to help block any of the debris, completing forgetting that his new chakra cloak would protect him.

As the technique died down, an expanse of empty area in what was a lush forest was revealed. Naruto was shocked to see the still standing reddish chakra construct. It was completely undamaged and had even formed some kind of armor and a shield around what had been just bones and forming muscle moments before. "No way," he said out loud at the ineffectiveness of his powerful rasengan. Itachi's technique, however was not done yet and a saki jar formed on the right arm with fire emerging to form some type of sword.

Looking to Nagato and finding the white haired man not preparing any kind of attack, Naruto decided that the former leader of Akatsuki was still on autopilot, waiting to make a move in response to an attack and so he decided to face the incoming threat. 'Itachi himself may be able to keep up with me but that thing he's formed is quite slow, he can't even run while using it and is forced to walk,' Naruto thought before coming up with his best option, 'He probably also can't turn around very fast or move his shield behind him to block.'

Seeing B quickly arrive and start battling Nagato, Naruto nodded to the older jinchuuriki as they switched targets for the moment. With a partially developed plan in mind, Naruto began forming another rasengan as he wondered if he could actually manage to grab the shield with his chakra arms and possibly pull it away or make an opening with which to use an attack. Moving at the Uchiha, he hoped that Itachi would give him some kind of advice or warning but he found the raven haired man oddly silent.

'Such an interesting technique, I didn't know Itachi had something like this with his Susanoo,' Kabuto commented as he helped guide and order the Uchiha to move. As Naruto shortened the distance, he had Itachi respond with force.

Dodging the downward strike from the sword, Naruto was about to make a quick movement to move right in front of the armored figure when he made eye contact with the shrouded Itachi. In that moment, he stumbled and came to a halt as he suddenly couldn't breath. His first thought was that something was choking him but that wasn't completely true as he could actually feel something moving inside his throat, specifically coming up from his stomach and to his mouth.

Watching in horror as the head of a crow began to emerge from his mouth, he felt an incoming attack and looked up to find that Itachi had not been as idle as he had. The sword had been pulled back and was already being thrust forward at him. 'Shit!,' Naruto cursed and put his hands up in front of him to block. The chakra shroud around his arms and hands enlarged significantly as the light orange chakra moved to block the attack.

As the chakra arms and blade met, the blade pierced the arms and continued with the thrust, going straight into Naruto's chest. The rasengan he had been holding with a third chakra arm faded with his lapse in concentration and shock. Coldness spread throughout his body and he stopped caring that a crow was still trying to emerge from his mouth. Looking down to the fiery sword that had completely pierced what he believed to be an incredibly strong defense, if not impenetrable chakra cloak, Naruto could only stareh as he continued to try and comprehend what had happened.

Meeting Itachi's eyes, the crow angled it's head to give sight preference to it's left eye and with Shisui's activated Mangekyo sharingan, it fulfilled the purpose for which it had been sealed into the blonde. However, instead of Sasuke who had been the intended target for the activation of the powerful genjutsu, the crow had emerged upon Naruto seeing the reanimated Itachi with a copy of his original eyes.

With his consciousness returning and now having full control of his body, Itachi could only look on at the scene before him. 'This...is the worst possible outcome,' he concluded and his eyes met with Naruto's. The fear that was filled in them was completely different from the determination that he had seen just minutes earlier when they started fighting. All who were present watched as the chakra cloak slowly began to get pulled inside the blade.

"What can we do?" came Nagato's voice which brought Itachi out of his daze but he could only respond with, "I don't know." Right as he finished saying it, octopus tentacles wrapped around Naruto's legs and abdomen as B tried to remove Naruto from the blade. "Don't let the blade cut you!" Itachi yelled and B looked up briefly to nod before he resumed trying to use his partially transformed body to get Naruto free. As B struggled and made no noticeable progress, Itachi tried again to end his Susanoo.

Normally ending it was simple, he either deactivated his Mangekyo sharingan or merely let the technique deconstruct but neither of those options were working at the moment. 'I won't be able to stop the technique until his sealing into the bottle is complete. What have I done?' he questioned, despite knowing full well that he had absolutely no control over his own body at the time. 'That Kabuto had no idea what I possessed,' he thought gritting his teeth and looked back to the blonde who was just starting to be sucked into the sword.

'Kyuubi was removed,' Naruto realized as the last amount of the Bijuu's chakra left his body and he could no longer feel the fox at all. The chakra cloak had been pierced first and now the process was starting with his own body. 'B keeps trying to pull me free but I won't budge and I can't get free from this. It's like my body is frozen. Only my eyes can move right now and nothing in my range of view is anything that I want to see. **And this damn bird is still in my mouth**,' he raged, breathing through his nose as best as he could while trying to remain conscious and not pass out from lack of oxygen. He wanted to scream or yell for help to anyone that might hear it but was only able to get out pathetic sounds that didn't even resemble either.

Struggling to fully emerge from the blonde's frozen jaw and fly to freedom, the crow desperately tried to escape what was happening but could feel that his own tail-feathers had also been pierced by the blade. Looking towards it's summoner and the person that had ultimately put him in such a situation, he was surprised to see Itachi more panicked and worried than he had ever seen the Uchiha. 'I don't know much about this technique but if he could have stopped what's happening, then he would have done it seconds ago,' thought the bird as it gave up trying to get free.

Looking away from the pleading blue eyes, Itachi looked directly at the sharingan of his still struggling crow summons. Putting his hands in a single handseal, the Uchiha did the only thing he could and activated another technique, saying, "Tsukuyami," out loud and focusing chakra into his right eye. 'I don't know where he is going but I can at least do this,' thought Itachi as the technique took effect.

'I won't be getting free from this and no one can help,' Naruto finally realized. No matter how much B had tried, his efforts made no difference. Nagato was unable to do anything or make any actions and Itachi had given him a look which spoke to the same effect. At some point, he could no longer hear anything happening around him and the cold feeling in his body was replaced by numbness as his world became distorted. Whether it was just his site or merely the fact that he was being sucked into the blade, he didn't know and everything soon turned black.

x-x

Looking to the pieces on his board, Kabuto was confused for several seconds. He had only meant to keep Naruto from the main battle and to keep his two pawns safe but everything had turned out horribly wrong. 'I didn't know Itachi possessed something like that. I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, that wasn't how my plan was supposed to go,' he thought as his control slipped. Currently none of his reanimated ninja were moving as he had completely lost his concentration but it hadn't actually been his shock over what happened to Naruto that had caused it.

'Something else happened,' he thought but reviewing all that he had seen through Itachi's eyes, he wasn't sure. The crow emerging was certainly not something that he could explain but given that he knew Itachi could summon those birds, he wondered if the Uchiha had prepared something before dying. 'Did it do something to me, that eye that the crow had,' he briefly wondered before getting back to his plan.

"What was my plan? What am I doing?" Kabuto suddenly questioned out loud to the cave that he was working from. Though Mitarashi Anko was situated on the ground nearby, she was unconscious and so there was no one to hear his words or answer. Retaking control of his Edo Tensei soldiers, Kabuto pushed aside the strange thoughts he was suddenly having and focused on his main object, 'To protect Konoha,' he said in his head and though it initially seemed very perplexing, it was starting to make sense again and he knew what he needed to do.

x-x

One week later, Once Piece World

Seven Years before Monkey D. Luffy first meets Roronoa Zoro

Naruto is seventeen

x-x

"Oi, is this guy even alive?" said one of the captive pirates that were crammed into a cell. "Who cares. Worry about yourself, fool," said another in response and despite what he had said, he couldn't completely hide his curiosity at the blonde haired captive lying flat on the floor. The young man had not been taken to Enies Lobby with the rest of them for the farce of a trial but instead brought in after they left the Judiciary Island and had stopped somewhere. He also noted that the cuffs around the blonde's hands were of a different make and material, which he believed to be kairoseki, the material used to keep devil fruit eaters from using their powers.

"He seems to be still breathing, but he feels freezing cold and I don't think he'll make the journey in the shape he's in. He's been shot...what...seven or more times maybe and it doesn't seem that anyone has bothered to try and patch him up much," commented a third captive as he looked over the wounds that covered the young man's chest, abdomen, legs and arms. Only a few had been bandaged while the rest were left alone and blood was even dripping off the body and onto the wooden floor. Looking to the head, he also noted the spot of read hair that was on the left side of the blonde's head, just above the ear, but he didn't know if it was a blunt-force wound or from a bullet.

"He'd be better off dying right now if he knew where we were headed. Hopefully we'll arrive before he starts to stink," said a fourth chained man from the shadows of the cell and no one gave a response to his statement as it was only met with bleak silence. The background noise suddenly died down and it took a few seconds before the group realized what it meant. 'We've must have arrived,' they collectively thought and were surprised at how quick the trip had been.

The ship had taken a unique root from Enies Lobby, which was only usable by the World Goverment and Marines. The Tarai Current was a giant whirlpool that was formed by unique conditions in an area of the Grand Line and part of the Calm Belt. Three of the governments important buildings, the judicial island of Enies Lobby, the fortress that was the Marine Headquarters, and the world's largest prison, Impel Down, were all along the edges of the current, forming a triangle. At each of the three locations was a mammoth door which were collectively referred to as the Gates of Justice. The doors were the only entry and exit points for the current and allowed expedited travel between the three important locations.

Their trip along the current had likely ended and they believed as such when they heard the Gate of Justice shut behind them; a very ominous 'dun' sound which told them that they had left the current. It had been ten or more minutes since then. Entering the area of the Calm Belt, the Marine battleship was forced to rely on paddle power because of the lack of wind and just moments ago, they had heard the noise of the engines powering the paddles slow down and then cease altogether.

Though faint, given that they were below decks on the large Marine warship, the experienced sailors of the captives could hear the telltale signs of a ship docking. Slight movements of feet and shouts were muted but still perceptible and identifiable. No sooner than the ship had completely stopped moving and only the gentle sounds of light waves against the hull could be heard, did marching footsteps began. The foreboding sound only halted briefly when a key could be heard being inserted into a lock, turned, and the main door to the cell block level unlocked.

As some light entered the long and wide hallway, a large number of lined cages were revealed. All eyes turned to the figure standing in the open doorway. Dressed in white with a long overcoat on his shoulders, the man stared with little emotion at the confined group.

"Begin unloading procedures," the man said in a gruff and stern voice, though his choice of words and uncaring tone made it seem as if the individuals in the cells were crates or supplies rather than people. "I want no mistakes, lets do this properly," he added, referring to the proper military procedure for unloading and transferring prisoners, either dangerous or not.

"Yes Sir," was the loud and simultaneous response from the gathered soldiers right before they flooded into the room, making two lines down the hall. The stamp of boots on the wood floor was the only noise that could be heard as the uniformed men got into position. The soldiers were all wearing the same outfit. A white cap was complemented with a white shirt, dark blue pants and polished black boots. Lettering was prominent on their caps which read, 'MARINE', in bold and all capitals. As the noise and floor vibration died down from their movement, another person entered the hallway. He was differently dressed but not as much as the one that was still standing in the doorway and had previously given the orders.

Looking at the two straight lines of Marines at attention and facing him, the second highest officer of the group ordered, "Face the cells, guns at the ready," and the soldiers turned to face the cages in one solid motion before all bringing their weapons, which had been held diagonally against their chests, to aim directly at the prisoners in the cell.

"Closest cells first, starting with the port side," said the man once again and as one soldier moved to open the first cell, those that were standing close to him continued to brandish their firearms at the prisoners. With each cell being emptied and the prisoners escorted out through the ship, most of the captives were compliant and waited quietly. There were some exceptions but no extra force besides threats or 'minor encouragement' was needed.

When it was finally time to escort the prisoners in the cell Naruto was in, the Marines allowed everyone to leave but the last three, barring their way with a rifle as one of them spoke, "You three, pick him up and carrying him." The captives looked at each briefly before one of them relented, "Put him on my back, I'll do it."

The two others grabbed the blonde by the arms and easily hefted him onto the other prisoners back and he was surprised to find the young man lighter than he anticipated. Learning forward and making sure the blonde would not fall off, the trio and blonde were escorted out of the prison deck and through the ship. Reaching the uppermost deck, all the prisoners followed a single line across the ship and over to the ramp. Though the lines of Marines watching them were completely straight and orderly, the prisoners formed a staggered line that moved at different speeds bumping into each other as their attention was drawn elsewhere.

Before them, and taking up the entire port side of the ship was a protective stone wall that was as tall as the uppermost masts of the Marine ships that were situated in front of it. The fact that it's height was nearly even with the bluish-green battle ships made it intimidating but everyone's attention was soon taken away from wall with a noise from the starboard side of the ship.

In the distance, a massive creature had surfaced and then gone back under the water, but it's length was so vast that it took several seconds for the yellow and orange striped monster to fully go back under the water. Though not a new sight to any of the individuals present, Marine or prisoner, the size of the Sea King only served to emphasize that they were inside the Calm Belt, the nesting area of such great beasts. The waves created by the creature soon reached the ship and the battleship undulated greatly, causing many of the prisoners to stumble and even the Marines to nearly lose balance. The waves, however, merely crashed against the immovable wall and soon a yell was given for the prisoners to continue on their way as the majority had stopped to stare at the Sea King, having possibly never seen one so large.

The man carrying Naruto, kept walking alongside the rest and eventually made it onto the small dock in front of the only entrance to Impel down, a large gate with sturdy portcullis. The gridded defensive measure was slowly rising in the air and those gathered were forced to wait for the drawbridge from the main building to come down and allow them entry into the most infamous prison in the world. A prison from which no one had escaped for thirteen years.

x-x

The Holy Land Mariejois

Marine Conference Room

x-x

Silently waiting around a circular table, some of the highest ranking members in the Marines sat with the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government. Kong was a muscular man with tanned skin and spiked white hair with a partial beard. Sitting directly across from him was the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku, who was in charge of the entire navy. The only similarity between the two men were the large white overcoats as Kong preferred more normal looking clothing underneath whereas as Sengoku's clothing choice was a white uniform. The Fleet Admiral had far lighter skin than Kong and his black hair was in an afro with a very long and braided beard, accompanied by a normal looking mustache. Oddly, his Marine cap had a large stuffed or fake seagull situated on the top and a small goat seemed to be sitting nearby his chair.

Tension filled the room as the two most prominent members waited with others for news from a serious incident that had occurred only a few hours before on Sabaody Archipelago, which was rather close to their current location. As both men sat with their arms folded over their chests staring at the rooms den den mushi, the remaining members waited with different looks and postures.

"Purupurupuru...purupurupuru...," began the snail creature on the desk and before it got to the third ring, Sengoku picked up the receiver. Being the person in charge of the Navy, it was his show but Kong and the others were there so they could received news directly and be able to act swiftly and accordingly.

"This is Sengoku, report!" the man demanded in a stern voice to what he thought was an Admiral, however, seeing the scared face imitated by the den den mushi, he could instantly tell without even hearing the voice of the Marine that it was not an Admiral.

"S-Sengoku-sama...," the man began, startled by the tone of the Fleet Admiral and the fact that he didn't realize Sengoku would be on the other lines. "Damnit, put Aokiji on!" the Fleet Admiral ordered and the unknown Marine was quick to reply with a stuttered, "Y-yes." Silence continued again as the group was forced to wait until the Admiral took the receiver.

"This is Aokiji," came a much more familiar voice on the other end and the small snail's face took on a more relaxed and calm attitude in accordance with the change in speaker.

"I want a report. Is the situation handled?" demanded the Fleet Admiral once again and he waited a moment before a heavy sigh came back through the receiver, which was mimicked by the den den mushi. "No, it really hasn't been," the Admiral admitted and veins raised on Sengoku's forehead but before he started shouting, he waited to hear a good explanation why. When none came, he started shouting.

"AND WHYT HE HELL NOT? It's been hours since this problem first started. It should be contained by now," Responded Sengoku in an enraged voice as he tried but mostly failed to reign in his anger over the lack of progress.

"Oi, oi, don't just assume I've been sitting around all this time," came Aokiji's calm reply which only infuriated Sengoku more as he thought about something.

"Are you laying down right now?" the Fleet Admiral questioned in a dangerous voice as his hand tightened on the receiver while he pictured what the Admiral was doing at that particular moment. An image of a resting Aokiji instantly came to the forefront of his mind.

There was a brief pause before the Admiral responded, "…...now I'm standing," and the response caused Sengoku to loudly grit his teeth. Most of the other people sitting at the conference table grew angrier, save for a single goatee sporting Vice Admiral who simply started laughing.

"SHUT UP, GARP!" came the Fleet Admiral's loud voice through the receiver of his den den mushi and Aokiji held it away from his head to reduce the noise but his face remained stoic and mostly unchanged by the laughter and shout. Sighing again as he listened to further shouts that weren't directed towards him, the very tall man waited for the noise to die down on the other end and stood patiently on the green grass of Grove 2 in Sabaody Archipelago. Around him, Marines had already removed all of the injured and the wounded were being tended to elsewhere. The only problem he had now was to explain his failure to capture the culprit responsible for the burning building in front of him.

Finally, another calmer voice came through the receiver, "I trust that the entire grove has been cordoned off and injured attended to?"

Aokiji quickly responded with an affirmative but before he could say anything else, the voice continued, "In that case, we need to start identifying the dead and survivors to determine who was there and whether any Tenryubito were present," said the older female voice and Aokiji decided it was better to try and explain the situation he was dealing with before anyone else continued talking.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt but that won't really be possible," he said through the den den mushi and a different voice answered him, "Explain," came the deeper voice of Kong.

"While all of Grove 2 has been evacuated successfully, I don't think it will be possible to identify any of the bodies inside the building," said Aokiji and he knew that they wouldn't understand as they simply weren't seeing what he was seeing.

"Why not?" Sengoku demanded in a slightly exasperated voice.

"The human auction house is still burning," replied Aokiji and before he could elaborate, the Fleet Admiral's voice came back.

"Its a Public Employment Securities Office..." quickly corrected Sengoku as that was the preferred terminology for such a building by the Marines and he was soon asking, "...why haven't you put it out yet?"

"Well, how should I put this?...I can't," admitted Aokiji as he stared at the black flames that had engulfed the entire building and which had proved impossible to dowse.

"You can't?" said another voice that the Admiral did not immediately recognize but he quickly responded, "We've been trying to hose it down for hours but the water just evaporates before it does anything. Anything that touches it seems to ignite as well. Even my own Hie Hie no Mi powers aren't able to put it out and I can't get into the building. A few of the Marines here tried and one was touched by the flames...I'm told they had to amputate his arm to make sure it didn't spread after trying everything they could to put the fire out. It's a slow burning but hot flame and it has been hours so far with no sign of it slowing down or stopping. I would say that it's more like the building is slowly disintegrating because of the flames, rather than burning. At this rate, I'm not sure we'll be able to find any bodies when it finally quits."

"What a dangerous ability," commented Sengoku before admitting, "I've never heard of something like that before." He looked around to the gathered group for comments but all were silent for a brief period until someone spoke.

"I'm quite sure that none of us have," concluded Vice-Admiral Tsuru as despite her many years of service and experience, she had never come across a devil fruit that bestowed the user with the ability to use black flames.

"Do we know anything about those inside, are they trapped...or.." trailed off Kong as he didn't like the idea of people being burned alive. "Perhaps they escaped before the flames engulfed the building," someone suggested but Aokiji informed them otherwise, "Witnesses say that no one fled the building when they noticed it was burning. Of the people that went in, I can't say for certain how many but those same witnesses definitely remember seeing two Tenryubito entering and as of my arrival on the scene, I couldn't feel any presences inside. Apparently the building normally can seat over a hundred and the staff could include up to twenty or thirty people as well."

"What do we know of the apprehended person? Is he the one responsible?" asked Sengoku, hoping to confirm that the person responsible for the flames was in custody. A report of an arrest had reached his desk before leaving for Mariejois but he had yet to hear anything since.

"We have no name for him but we're positive he doesn't have a bounty. Unfortunately, his ability had nothing to do with creating fire and it seems he was just a slave that managed to get free," came Aokiji's voice from the receiver and similar looks were exchanged across the conference table as each had the same feeling on the subject. It didn't sit well with any of them that the person responsible had gotten away after likely being responsible for so many deaths.

"We're still searching the groves but we have no idea what the person looks like so the probability of us finding them is slim unless they use their powers again. We've caught quite a few pirates but none seem related to the incident or individual responsible," admitted Aokiji.

"What of the captured person, did he tell us anything?" inquired Kong and Aokiji hesitated for a second before answering, "He really wasn't in any state to tell anybody...anything...when I got here. He did claim that he started the fire but I could tell that he was lying. Per regulations for this type of incident, he's on a ship to Impel Down but I doubt that he'll last the trip."

Frowning, Sengoku wished that wasn't the case as he wanted to know who was responsible but knew that what Aokiji did was right. Standard procedure in such cases that the World Government wanted to erase included the absence of a trial, and other than the imprisonment orders sent with the prisoner, there was no further paperwork generated. Those directly or indirectly responsible just disappeared.

"Why would he claim responsibility?" asked Vice-Admiral Garp and the others stopped to wait for Aokiji to respond. Such a claim would be an immediate death sentence, especially if they knew that Tenryubito were hurt or killed in the incident.

"Some of this is speculation but when our forces were finally able to secure the area and begin searching for a way into the building and evacuating civilians, one of the parties discovered a hole big enough for people to crawl through. It's situated a good distance away from the building and they followed it all the way back to the building but again couldn't get inside because of the flames and were forced to turn around and come back. From the impressions of foot prints and boots at the mouth of the hole, I would guess that many or perhaps all of the slaves inside escaped through there," Aokiji revealed to them.

"Fighting off our forces while probably knowing that an Admiral was coming, he resigned himself to be a distraction and likely managed to buy them time to get away and claimed responsibility in the hopes that we wouldn't find the hole or it would be too late. There are no reports of escaped slaves and without restraints on, there was no way for our forces to know that they weren't just civilians of the grove and they probably escaped in the mass of people when we evacuated the area.

Also, all of the records concerning the slaves are inside the burning building so we can't identify any of them. If the young man does know who started the fire, who was inside the building, or who all escaped, there's no way he would tell us that information," said Aokiji as he informed them what he believed. The receiver on his end was quite silent for a moment before a voice asked another question.

"What about our loses?" asked Vice-Admiral Garp and those in the conference room felt rather foolish as that had not been directly on their minds during the entire conversation concerning the incident.

"Twenty five succumbed to their injuries so far but over a two hundred were injured by the person that was captured and many are still in critical condition," responded Aokiji after he confirmed with a nearby officer. Though no one said anything, the Admiral could tell that they were surprised by the information and the look given by the den den mushi did help him come to that conclusion.

"As I said, the young man's intentions were not to kill everyone he could, merely to buy time for those that escaped," reiterated the Admiral and it seemed that was the end of the conversation with Sengoku, the Fleet Admiral merely asking for a report later on to be sent to him. Hanging up the den den mushi and putting it away in his pocket, the Admiral looked once again at the strange black flames covering the auction house.

Glancing down to his white coat that he had been laying on, he picked it up and frowned slightly at the resin that was sticking to it. The same liquid was excreted by the roots of the massive trees that made up the grove and was the reason why the archipelago's signature bubbles formed. As he froze the resin with his powers and shook the coat to let the ice break off, he looked over the word 'Justice' which was emblazoned on the jacket and thought over the words that the young blonde had said to him.

Though he had come to the island chain wearing the jacket, he draped it over his forearm and decided to carry it back to the nearby Marine base. While passing the auction house and leaving Grove 2 over one of the bridges that connected the island to the adjacent others, he suddenly remembered something. 'Did I have someone fill out the special imprisonment order to send with the prisoner?' he wondered and couldn't actually recall whether he had or not, but was leaning towards an answer of 'I forgot.' Sighing, he wondered if he should complete the form and just turn it in, claiming that it had gotten lost.

'Seeing as it's already so late, I'll worry about it later. It won't make much of a difference. When he left here, he was almost dead and after being frozen with my Ice Time, one way or another he'll die. The paperwork would just indicate that he was to be placed on death row for immediate execution,' he thought and really wanted to get some sleep. It had been a long and disappointing day that ultimately would be covered up with some kind of story.

It wasn't the first time that a Tenryubito had gone missing, was presumed dead, or had actually been killed. Every once in a while, one of the World Nobles would get adventurous and try and embark on a long journey or go somewhere that they had heard about and end up in an accident or disappear at sea. However, it was extremely rare that anyone would raise a weapon to them, much less be responsible for killing two. The World Nobles had the power to call for an Admiral's assistance no matter where they were and this time it just happened to be on Sabaody.

Something similar had never happened to his memory, 'Or maybe it has and I just didn't know about it,' he considered. Such an incident happening so close to Marine Headquarters and the seat of the World Government, Mariejoise, was rather chilling. If people learned that someone had gotten away with killing two Tenryubito, there could be consequences and it was better to report a riot in Grove 3 and the World Nobles dying at sea than the truth, which is what he believed would happen.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I do not own Naruto or One Piece

Chapter 2: Entering hell

Impel Down Arc 2

x-x

The walk over the drawbridge and into the mouth of Impel Down was a short one. The surrounding wall was completely separate from the main building and the ocean filled in the gap between them. It was almost like a moat but one that seemed to float on the surface of the ocean by unknown means as no one could see any attachments or structures connecting to the main building beneath the water. The main building was made of the same type of plain looking stone but was even taller than the protective wall.

Once over the drawbridge, the Marines that were walking with them stopped before entering the main door, as if they had no purpose or jurisdiction to go any farther. They were quickly replaced by well dressed guards in tan uniforms and others that wore something akin to an executioners uniform, though in tan and brown rather than black. Told which direction to take, they were flanked by lined up soldiers, all looking at them with either stern looks, slight sadistic smiles or merely contempt.

Following the procession, the man carrying the blonde looked upon the the large arched doorway he was entering and found the words 'Sterilization' printed in bold letters. He wondered to what it was referring but his attention was soon directed up ahead as he heard a scream of pain. The scream was soon followed by another and then another in a very precise procession with just a second or two gap. Following the long hall, it eventually opened up into a large room where all of the prisoners were removing their clothing and the new ones entering were being ordered to do the same.

What clothing couldn't be removed due to the cuffs was cut off by guards and once everyone divesting themselves of their clothes, the items were thrown into a large moveable cart before the prisoners were directed to continue their walk to the next room. Two guards decided to help with the prisoner that was unable to move but the man was still forced to carry the blonde to whatever was up ahead, which was likely the source of the screams.

The line slowed as they were forced to make it more orderly and waited for their turn. As the duo reached their destination which was another large room, more sounds could be heard other than the screaming. Clanking as well as a vibratory low rumbling were present in the new room. Just a head of them, a series of metal beams were suspended from the ceiling and attached were multiple rollers that were connected with a heavy chain. Beneath each roller was something akin to a thick meat hook but it apparently could be locked. Like some kind of conveyor system, the hooks slowly moved down a very tall hallway and out of sight while a hole in an adjacent wall brought back empty hooks with no one on them.

Given the screams up ahead and the fact that no one was coming back around from empty hooks because the opening was far too small, many of the prisoners started to get scared of what was up ahead. From their prospective, it seemed like some kind of automated killing machine. As they began protesting or looking for a way out, a deadly voice was soon heard.

"Pipe down you animals, this is just the baptism. The real torture starts later, during your indefinite stay here," the man said with a smile and took a breath, exhaling smoke from the cigar in the corner of his mouth. Looking over the prisoners with a predatory gaze, the Head Jailer, Shiliew, held a firm grip on the upper portion of his nodachi's red sheath, ready and willing to use it on the first sign of disobedience. He enjoyed cutting down prisoners, especially if he could claim to the Warden that they were being unruly.

Looking between the man dressed in a black uniform with a sword, and then to the conveyor system and screams up ahead, the gathered people stayed silent and merely waited their turn. When the duo's turn finally arrived, the older man helped to keep the blonde upright as the guards used poles to snag the chain between his cuffs and pull it up to the hook. Once secured on the tall hook, the blonde was taken right off his feet as the system raised in the air and suspended him by the cuffs. The older man soon followed and they were taken slowly down the long hallway.

None of the naked prisoners were anywhere near tall enough to touch the floor and they were separated enough that they couldn't touch each other with their legs. Up ahead their were two sets of overhangs with guards on them, though most of the guards were aiming weapons, two guards, one on either side, were brandishing some kind of broom and a bucket of soapy water. As they neared, the two guards readied the brooms and harshly brushed them with the wire bristles as much as they could before the conveyor forced them onwards to something else.

The blonde ahead of him groaned in pain as some of his bandages were removed and the bristles touched wounded flesh but he was still unconscious. Coming to another overhang, the a new set of guards sprayed them both with pressurized hoses to remove the soap. With the screams getting louder ahead, all of the prisoners moving along were wondering what was next which would elicit a scream. Their pondering was soon answered, however, as the corridor started to heat up slightly and they began to descend.

As the ceiling angled downward, so too did they pick up speed as the rollers were affected by gravity. Looking around the blonde, the man could see those up ahead were struggling and yelling before the screaming started. As he strained his body to get a better a look, he almost wished he hadn't. On the floor was a rectangular vat of water and those ahead of him were one by one being dunked or more like pulled into it and then pulled out.

The flames licking the sides of the vat and the steam coming off the boiling water that they were all heading towards were definite indications of why people would scream. Eventually the ceiling stopped lowering and the beam itself angled dowwnard so it was low enough over the vat to completely submerge someone. Though the dunking seemed relatively quick, it was still boiling water and most of the prisoners were trying to climb up their chains and even elevate their legs as much as possible to avoid being burned.

'So this is the baptism,' he thought and began trying to prepare himself before it was his turn, though the blonde ahead of him had no idea what was in store. Unprepared, Naruto sped into the vat and then was pulled back out screaming, now partially conscious from the inflicted pain upon his unprotected body. Slowly being pulled out, his legs suffered more than the rest of his body because he simply wasn't aware enough to pull them up while the conveyor system slowly pulled him out of the vat and up the angled ceiling. Half lidded eyes looked around the the stone walls on either side but they continually closed and opened as he began slipping in and out of consciousness.

At the very end of their conveyor journey, all the prisoners arrived at an elevated platform where guards removed their chains from the hooks and they were made to walk down the metal stairs and towards a table filled with black and white striped uniforms. Naruto collapsed onto the floor after his chains were taken off the hook and he was slowly carried again towards the changing area. The guards allowed prisoners to properly get their shirts on by undoing one hand from the cuffs and then making sure it was put back in and locked. The room was filled with other guards, ready should prisoners try anything but after the baptism, most were temporarily subdued.

Though difficult, several prisoners were forced to help dress the blonde before he was dragged towards the next area. Forced to stand and wait, each prisoner was identified based upon their bounty poster as the majority of all prisoners entering Impel Down were pirates and all but a small percentage had bounties. Once identified, they were given a prisoner number and then were assigned to a level of the prison. The assignment was usually based upon their bounty amount but there were exceptions.

Those that possessed devil fruit abilities, were usually placed in the lower levels because they were perceived as more dangerous even if their bounty amount did not reflect this. Their cuffs were made with Kairoseki and all of the cell bars on Level 2 and below were also made from this material to make sure that devil fruit users would never escape. Level 1did not have any Kairoseki cells in order to save money and because prisoners of those levels usually did not require it. Most devil fruit users became more infamous or dangerous as a result of their new-found abilities, meaning a higher bounty. Historically there were no prisoners on the first level who had eaten devil fruits.

Splitting up as they were slowly identified and assigned, they would be taken to their given level in groups and led by chief guards or jailer beasts, along with a contingent of lower level guards. As the next person stepped forward, Identification Unit Assistant Officer Domino looked over the edge of her table and down to the blonde on the floor. His skin was quite pinkish from the baptism but she was confident that it wouldn't hinder her identification.

Flipping through the various bounty posters that were supplied with the newest prisoners, she failed to find the blonde and after looking through again, she went through the various other papers on her desk to see if something had been misplaced. Not finding anything, she asked a nearby guard, "Did we receive any special orders or paperwork with the newest batch of prisoners?"

"The Marines didn't say anything or hand over other paperwork," the guard quickly responded and Domino frowned as she wondered what to do next. Not being a guard in Impel Down for very long, this was the first time for her that paperwork or a bounty poster had not been forwarded along with a prisoner. Seeing that the blonde was unconscious, she decided to not hold up the process and sent one of the guards to find the Vice-Warden, Head Jailer, or another superior officer that would know the proper procedure while she continued sorting the rest.

It took several minutes before the guards returned with the Vice-Warden having been unable to track down the Head Jailer after he disappeared into the lower levels of the prison. Lifting up and then striking the end of his dark metal pitchfork to announce his presence, the blonde officer turned around to find the features of the strange, pharaoh looking Vice-Warden.

"Problem? Never fear, the soon to be Warden is here!" proclaimed the man as he stood without a shirt and with a look on his face that did not speak of dependability, nor inspired confidence. A few of the newer guards gave him odd looks, not knowing that proclaiming such things about becoming the Warden was something he had been doing for quite some time and regularly.

Slightly confused, before Domino could answer his question, she wanted to know something, "Weren't you only just promoted to Vice-Warden? Won't it be several more years before you can even think about becoming warden?"

"Oops! I didn't mean to say that second sentence out loud, but that's beside the point. Now what is the problem that requires my attention?" said a slightly embarrassed Hannyabal and several guards around them sighed and pretended they didn't hear anything.

"This prisoner," and Domino pointed over her desk to direct the much taller Vice-Warden to the blonde still lying on the ground.

"Did he die before making it to a cell, it happens," Hannyabal said in an easy going manner as he interrupted the blonde officer. "No, the problem is that I don't have any information on this prisoner at all," explained the officer and the Vice Warden frowned while stroking his very long and cylindrical shaped chin as if it was a beard.

"Hmm, nothing huh?" he said out loud but was thinking something very different as he looked over the young man on the floor. Noticing the Kairoseki cuffs and lack of paperwork, he immediately concluded that the prison was someone that was either someone that the World Goverment wanted erased and placed in Level 6 or a first offender, devil fruit user, that should be placed on Levels 3 through 5.

'This could work out in my favor,' he thought and began scheming a plan, 'If this prisoner gets put on the wrong level with a devil fruit ability,' he continued but suddenly started talking out loud, "...And if something happens, I'll blame it on the Warden and get my promotion."

Glancing around at the incredulous looks that the personnel were giving him he realized his mistake, "Oh shit," he said under his breath and then started nervously laughing before saying, "Just a joke, just a joke. Well in cases such as this, I would put him on the first level and wait to see if anything comes through concerning him. Once in a while the Marines will lose or forget to send the paperwork. Don't worry so much, if anything happens it'll be the Wardens fault."

Quickly leaving the area and letting the others take care of the situation, Hannyabal imagined himself becoming Warden as he walked and wondered what kind of headdress he should wear. His current yellow and green striped headgear would not be enough for such a position.

Sighing as she watched the Vice-Warden leave, Domino motioned to two of the guards and had them take the young man to a cell in Level 1.

x-x

Two days had passed as the blonde haired man lay rather motionless in the cell with the rest of his cellmates. During that time, they had left him alone because he was valuable to them. The longer he remained in the cell and unconscious, the more they could steal from his share of the rations. The stronger members of the cell split it amongst themselves and even if the blonde did die, they were unlikely to say anything for a while. They were only given one meal a day, consisting of bread and water, so a little extra was a blessing in such a place.

Blue eyes opened to look upon a dark room. Everything about it was unfamiliar to him and moving his head slightly to get a better view, he identified it as a jail cell. 'I'm in prisoner?' he wondered upon seeing multiple other cells just across from his own and it was at that moment that he finally noted the sounds that he could hear.

'Breathing and some snoring. I must be sharing this cell with what, four people?' he thought and he turned his head to peer through the darkness, just able to make out four others sleeping on the hard stone ground. A loud sound from his stomach made itself known and he tried not to think about when the last time he had eaten. 'I don't even known what happened to me. I was on that group of islands, Sabaody...I think it was called. Am I still there or is this somewhere else?' he wondered but couldn't be sure.

Thinking back, he tried to remember what had happened but everything was hazy and his head hurt the more he tried. He recalled being chased by bounty hunters on more than one occasion. They kept mentioning his ability and that he would fetch a high price once they captured and sold him. 'Those weapons,' he thought and touching an area of his right arm that had been hit by the extremely fast projectiles. He had been caught by surprise because he had never encountered anything quite like them. Kunai launching devices weren't unheard of but their speed was nothing compared to the weapons called 'rifles.'

Noting that the dulled pain in that area felt rather similar to other pains he was experiencing all over his body he wondered if he had been shot multiple times later on by another group. 'Does that mean I was captured by them. This looks more like a prison,' he guessed but decided to think about such things later on. Closing his eyes and calming himself, Naruto kept his body still and began entering sage mode as he gathered natural energy and correctly blended it with his chakra. He found it slightly difficult to gather the needed energy and then mix it with his spiritual and physical energy but assumed it was because of the condition he was in.

In the few days he had to explore the archipelago, he found that not only was the Kyuubi gone and he was still alive but he had lost some of the benefits of being a jinchuuriki to the nine-tailed bijuu. The greatest loss besides his faster recovery of spent chakra and the well of special chakra he had taken from the Kyuubi, was a decrease in his enhanced healing ability. His body simply wasn't healing as fast as it once did and he couldn't wake up the next morning feeling perfectly fine after moderate injuries or a day of intense physical activity.

He could however lessen that loss by entering Sage Mode as the technique amplified the majority of his physical abilities and that included healing. Since he wasn't moving around, he could stay in such a state for an extended period of time and let himself heal as much as possible while figuring out where he was and how to get out of the cell.

x-x

Running his black pitchfork along the cell bars, the Head Guard of Level 1 roused the prisoners whose turn it was to be tortured. As they slowly woke and started to get up out of reflex and habit, he looked to the newest group and the one prisoner that had yet to be tortured since arriving. The blonde had been unresponsive for two days but he appeared to have made it through the injuries suffered before arrival.

Special orders had come through for the blonde's execution about twenty four hours previously but he had let it go because the type of execution reserved for those of Level 1 required him to be conscious. Also, due to the fact that there were already more than enough inmates currently scheduled for death in the next few days he really didn't have any openings at the moment. Only a select number were placed into the Crimson Hell in a given day. 'I guess we'll just have to introduce him to some hospitality before then,' thought the man with a smile underneath his brown and tan executioners-style uniform.

"Everybody UP!" yelled the Head Guard as his subordinates split into groups and started unlocking cells to escort prisoners to the torture rooms. They only had the capacity to torture a certain number of prisoners at a time but tried to make sure everyone on Level 1 and even some of those on Level 2 were tortured several times each week.

Opening his eyes, Naruto began forcing himself to stand, mimicking what everyone else in his cell was doing. His mouth was terribly dry and his lips were cracked but he found that there was less pain in his body than before. His sage mode had ended and he had fallen asleep at some point so he hadn't gathered any more natural energy to enter it again. Struggling, the blonde grabbed the bars and slowly got himself to his feet. It surprised him how weak his body still felt and how difficult he found it just to stand up.

Filing out of the cells, the prisoners were taken through the stone halls. They seemed to already know what was in store for them but Naruto remained oblivious of the destination but mindful of his surroundings and situation. As they walked, he endeavored to gain some information about where he was and possible methods of escape. There were no windows and absolutely no sunlight as they trudged along the cold stone floors.

'Underground?' the blonde wondered as he strained his ears to hear anything of the outside world or what lay beyond the walls that surrounded him. Up ahead, his ears finally picked up something but it was not anything that he wanted to hear. The screams of pain grew in volume as they were led into a large room that was filled with guards and various prisoners being prepared for something.

Numerous hooks and chains were suspended from the ceiling and various chairs and other restraining devices were also present in the room. However, what immediately caught the blonde's attention was the wall and large table that were both covered with various tools and other dangerous looking implements. 'So we're being interrogated,' Naruto believed and wanted to do something to get away but his body was barely listening to him and his chakra reserves felt incredibly tiny compared to what they normally should be.

The guards were quick to get things underway as they grabbed the prisoners cuffs and attached them to the chains and hooks suspended from the ceiling to keep them from moving and using a pulley system to raise them up so their feet were barely on the ground anymore. "Well, I'll leave this lot in your capable hands, Sadi-chan," said the lead guard that had escorted them from the cells.

Straining to see who the man was talking to, Naruto could see a very thin woman in a standard guards uniform without the cap. Her long hair covered her eyes completely but his gaze soon moved to what was held in her hands.

"We'll start off...mmmmm...with my favorite," the woman said as she seemed to greatly enjoy the prospect of using the whip in her hands. As if to emphasize what weapon she was referring to, she held part of the whip up and let it go slack before tightening it up, producing a characteristic snap.

'Oh, crap,' thought Naruto as he attempted to go back into sage mode by keeping his body motionless but the first crack of the whip destroyed his efforts. Instead of whipping them individually, the woman was apparently able to hit five or more prisoners in a single strike. Four different cells worth of prisoners were all hanging around her as she dextrously wielded the whip to strike each group without needing to even turn around. Despite impacting multiple people, the whip did not seem to slow down or be impeded by the multiple strikes at all.

The sting of the whip was immediate, followed by a searing pain and Naruto grit his teeth before trying once again to go into sage mode. The whip was not an edged weapon and he should be able to avoid further injury through the techniques strengthening of his body but he soon found it pointless. The frequency of her whippings was far shorter than the time he needed to enter sage mode.

'It takes me about fifteen seconds to do it under most conditions,' thought Naruto before another crack of the whip sent his body spasming in pain. Breathing heavy, despite not actually exerting himself, Naruto gave up trying to gather natural energy and prepared himself for the next strike.

'Oi," came a deep but hushed voice next to him and Naruto barely turned his head to see one of the prisoners from his cell. "Just scream or yell. She gets off on it and if you don't, she'll just whip us harder," he explained before the whip hit them all again and Naruto could tell that though in pain, the man was definitely faking a yell, as were many of the other prisoners in the lineup with him.

After a few more whips, and verbally acknowledging some of the pain he was experiencing, Naruto's focus drifted, trying to find some distraction to deal with agony of the whipping. Around him, he viewed between strikes that whipping was just one of the many choices possibly in store for them. Some prisoners were being beaten, while others were having fingers smashed or crushed and in one area of the room, it seemed that a few were strapped in chairs and having teeth or finger nails pulled.

'They're not asking any questions,' he soon realized after the whip struck again. 'So this isn't an interrogation...it's just torture,' he realized and wondered how many times they were going to get whipped or for how long it would continued. Blocking out the negative emotions of those around him wasn't too difficult given the pain that he himself was experiencing and between strikes of the whip he recalled that there was something that he could do to escape the pain. Closing his eyes, he entered the seal on his stomach.

x-x

Moving through the underground piping system that was just before the seal room, Naruto stopped as he found that he wasn't trudging through water like usual. 'That's doesn't look good,' he thought and walked to where the seal was, finding that his body was free of injury, pain, and weakness; moving like it always had. Entering the large room, he looked at the open red gate that used to hold a pinned down Kyuubi and stopped as memories flooded back to him.

'I already knew that it was empty but for some reason I thought something would still be here,' he realized and thought how foolish it was to get his hopes up. Starring at the cell, he then looked to the area where the extracted chakra he had removed from the Kyuubi was stored. That was gone as well. 'I guess I just wanted everything to be like it was,' he thought and sank down to his knees, knowing that such times were likely over.

'Coming here was just to escape the pain but at some point I have to go back,' he recognized and wondered how many times it had been that he had entered the seal in order to borrow power from the fox? 'I've lost count,' he admitted and before he let his mind wander to better times in the past, he tried to figure out what to do in the present.

'I'm extremely low on chakra and haven't eaten or drank any water in...what, days maybe. And now I've got more wounds piling up that aren't going to heal for a while,' he thought before questioning out loud, "What the hell am I going to do?" as if hoping that someone or something would answer. From what he found out just after arriving, he was somehow stuck in a new world with no real way of escaping. 'No, I'm not just stuck, I'm somehow sealed into this world. No one is coming to save me and I don't even know how I came to be in this prison. Where is that damn bird?' he wondered, thinking about the only person that may have a few answers for him and be able to fill in the blanks in his memory.

Looking up, he noted for the first time that he could see something on the floor near the cell door. It was something he recognized easily but which didn't belong there. 'Is that my ninja pouch?' he questioned but before he could find out, he was suddenly yanked out of the seal.

x-x

Confused and spitting out the water that had just been thrown in his face, Naruto regretted instantly regretted the action as it was the the only water he'd had in quite some time. 'I didn't know I could be brought out of the seal by someone throwing a bucket of water in my face,' he thought but his mind quickly focused on other things. Something was different, 'The whipping has stopped,' he realized by that wasn't it. His hands were also now cuffed behind his back and not in front like they had been but that also wasn't it. The strange feeling he was experiencing was soon explained as one of the torturers came up to him and the man was upside down.

Realizing his mistake, Naruto corrected himself as he found that he was the one upside down and hanging by his feet instead of the chain on his handcuffs. The unfamiliar guard who had thrown the water just laughed at his initial confusion and then understanding, "Think you can just pass out on Sadi-chan without some extra punishment? Think again," he said and motioned to the chain he was holding.

Straining his neck down to look up, Naruto found that the chain was connected to a pulley system that was responsible for holding him up in the air. 'Then what am I suspended over?' he questioned before turning his head in the opposite direction and finding a large barrel of dark water. It was no sooner than he had looked down, then the guard let go of the chain and he dropped face first into the water.

The water was freezing cold and the shock caused him to ingest some water before he managed to close his mouth again. 'At least I won't go thirsty,' he thought but quickly realized a problem. 'It's salt water and much saltier than ocean water...there's also something else in it,' he recognized before the wounds on his back began to sharply sting and burn.

Struggling in pain and because he needed air, the blonde began taking in water right before he was pulled up. Coughing and dripping water, the blonde heard the guard's voice again but was unable to see the man clearly, "I've had lots of practice with dunking prisoners, we're not done yet," and Naruto was dropped back in.

x-x

Unceremoniously pushed into the cell, Naruto couldn't keep his balance and merely fell to the floor. Though he initially tried to get up, his head was spinning too much and his coughing fit showed no sign of stopping. It was minutes before he could suppress his cough and remain still enough to focus on gathering natural energy. 'This is all I can do right now,' he admitted and managed to go into sage mode but still found it very difficult to gather the needed natural energy and mix it. The coughing subsided somewhat and the pain in his back also lessened as his body strengthened from the technique.

The cell was quiet so Naruto moved slowly to position himself away from the prisoners. Turning onto his side, he took a moment to examine the cuffs on his wrists. Twisting and pulling at the cuffs with all the strength he had, he found that they didn't budge at all. Trying instead to pull on the chain, it too proved unyielding. 'Are they insanely strong or do I just have no strength right now?' he wondered before giving up.

Reaching out to the nearby bars, he tried to see if they would budge any. Feeling a slight success as he pulled on them with one hand, he decided to stop and not try bend them any further. Even if he made an exit, he had no idea where to go and still couldn't get the cuffs off. Ceasing his movement and struggles, he instead endeavored to remain as still as possible so that he didn't waste more energy than he needed to.

'If I can't pry them off, then I'll need something to pick the lock,' he thought, remembering back to the key that he had seen when the guards removed the cuffs on one of his hands to put the restraints back to being in front of him after the dunking was over. It was a simple key and so was the one for the cell doors. Even with basic lock picking skills, he was sure that he could manage to pick it once he procured some implements.

Hearing footsteps come down the hall, he was surprised to see guards coming by and pushing some kind of trolley. Stopping at each cell, the guards deposited a few glasses of water and small loafs of bread. Seeing the food and water, Naruto started to try and move towards it but his cellmates were quicker as they had evidently been expecting the arrival.

'Assholes,' Naruto thought as they took what was there, including his share. 'We basically went through the same torture but I'm just too tired to fight,' he lamented and blocked the sounds of them eating and talking out as he continued to lay on the ground and conserve what energy he had. Though his stomach hurt from lack of food, he had other more immediate concerns. 'How long can I survive without water?' he wondered and though it was an important question, he was feeling tired enough that he just let himself fall asleep.

x-x

The following day

x-x

Pushed into a different cell than normal, Naruto was unable to stay upright after the shove and fell to the ground again. His face was swollen and blood was still dripping from his mouth and nose, while there were many unseen bruises on his chest and stomach from the beating that he had been given during the daily torture session. Pain radiated throughout his body and he didn't get up or even sit up from his prone position on the ground.

The door was quickly shut and locked behind him but not before the guard said something to him, "We finally have an opening for you. Welcome to death row, you won't be here for long." With that, the guard laughed while walking away and Naruto was left alone in the empty cell.

'Shit,' he cursed in his head and wondered what was going on. 'None of the other prisoners from my cell are in here or going to be executed?' he complained but had no idea what he was going to do about the information. 'Escape? I feel even weaker today than I did yesterday and I can't fight like this,' he acknowledged and tried to think of something but found even thinking difficult for him. His thoughts were jumbled and he was having a problem focusing.

Staying on the cool stone ground and laying his swollen cheek on it to help with the swelling, he remained motionless, thinking over his situation and not bothering to go into sage mode at the moment. It wasn't until he heard footsteps coming down the hall that he lifted his head to see what was going on. Watching the guards with the food trolley, he was transfixed on the one guard that placed a small loaf of bread and glass of water just outside the bars of his cell. Seeing the guards continue on their way, a brief moment elapsed before he started immediately crawling on his elbows to the bars.

Though desperate for sustenance, he gingerly reaching between the bars and pulling the cup closer with his palms. Carefully bringing it into the cell, he brought the rim of the glass to his lips and slowly drank the cold water. Despite food sitting nearby, he was literally dying of thirst and nearly choking because he had a hard time swallowing. When the glass was empty and every single drop was gone, he placed it back outside the cell and grabbed the bread. Slowly crawling to the nearest wall, he sat against it and pulled off chunks from the loaf . It wasn't that great but it was the only thing he had eaten in four or more days.

Once the bread was done, he turned to lay sideways against the wall and placed his hands against the cool surface. It was during his peaceful moment that something began coming up his throat. His first thought was that he had eaten or drank too fast and was about to throw up but he soon realized it was something else. With a beak coming out from his mouth, a large large crow soon fully emerged and jumped down to the floor. Coughing up a feather, Naruto glared at the black bird as they were still not on the best of terms.

Ignoring his look, the crow hopped toward the cell bars and was looking through to see how close other prisoners were. The current cell was in a different hallway and all of the cells positioned on one side of the hall with no prison cells across from them, 'Good,' the bird thought as that meant there was little chance of being spotted and they'd only have to worry about passing guards or other prisoners overhearing them because Naruto was alone in the cell.

"I thought I finally got rid of you," blurted out Naruto and the crow ruffled it's feathers before speaking as it turned around, "One of your usual greetings I see...," it said sarcastically but stopped as it took a look at him and then blurted out, "You look like hell."

"A fine greeting from you as well," commented Naruto and they gave the other a stern look with one black orb, as one eye was purposefully shut, and one blue orb as the other was swollen shut. Eventually the looks subsided as both were too tired to continue being foolish.

"Now that your finally alone, we can talk," stated the bird but before he could continue, Naruto asked, "When did you go back inside my stomach?" The crow looked at him inquisitively before asking, "You don't remember?" Naruto responded by shrugging but added, "I just thought you flew away."

"Fool, I was given a task by my summoner and I intend to fulfill it," stated the crow in a low but serious tone. A period of silence elapsed as they both eyed the other. Naruto didn't like the bird because it was mostly it's fault that he was in his current situation, 'Well, his fault and Itachi's and the person controlling Itachi,' Naruto corrected himself and the crow gave him the same look because unlike his Uchiha summoner, the blonde was the exact opposite in personality and prodigious talent.

Deciding that having someone to talk to was better than having no one, Naruto ended the silence, "So, Yoga-san, what do we need to talk about?"

"Don't keep shortening my name," said the crow, first and foremost, before adding, "Isn't it obvious what we should be discussing," said the crow but Naruto didn't respond so it continued, "Breaking out."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I do not own Naruto or One Piece

Chapter 3: Going further down

Impel Down Arc 3

x-x

Looking incredulously at the bird, Naruto wondered what it was planning. It wasn't as if he didn't want to escape too but he didn't think that the bird would make that much of a difference. 'How can he know any more than I do about this place?' he wondered but decided the best way to find out, was just to ask.

"So, what's your plan?" he casually said and he swore he saw the bird frown before it answered, "I don't have one yet and keep your voice down, other prisoners may be able to hear us."

"You do realize I'm going to be executed in the not so distance future?" Naruto questioned and the bird was quick to answer, "Just because I was hiding inside your stomach, does not mean that I wasn't listening. I am aware of what the guard said, it just means that we'll have to work fast."

The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched and he started chuckling slightly at what the bird was saying before it turned into a coughing fit. When he had stopped, he informed the crow, "I barely have chakra and look at me, aside from a injured body, I don't have anything but these shitty clothes and super strong handcuffs which I can't break or pick."

Seeing at how defeated the blonde looked and felt, despite only being in prisoner for a few days, Yogarasu sighed. 'I'll need to do something about his current mental state, I suppose,' he thought before speaking, "You're quite mistaken. First of all, you still have ninja tools," he revealed and Naruto's good eye widened in surprise which the crow took as a bad sign.

"I'm guessing you don't remember either," Yogarasu said out loud but inwardly he was thinking something different, 'He either blocked out the trauma or has been injured enough to lose his some of his memory and possibly the last few days since coming here.'

"The last thing I remember is being chased by bounty hunters," Naruto informed him and the crow hid his surprise. 'I'm not sure which instance of being chased he's remembering but that means he's lost a least an entire days worth of time,' he thought before deciding to leave out many of the details and merely saying, "Before being captured, I hid inside you and you sealed your ninja pouch into your seal."

Naruto instinctively moved one hand to his stomach as he had never used the seal as a storage seal before, having it only fulfill it's original and intended purpose. 'Have I gone into the seal since waking up here?' the blonde questioned but he was having difficulty remembering if he had or not.

"Secondly, as for your chakra, some of the most useful jutsu are the basic ones which require very little chakra and since you have so much to begin with, then you should have plenty," the crow informed him but Naruto only sighed before informing the bird, "That's where we might have a problem."

"How so?" Yogarasu questioned and Naruto quickly lifted up his hands to show off the swollen and very bruised fingers. Cringing slightly, Yogarasu could easily tell that most of them were broken. "I couldn't get into sage mode fast enough," Naruto explained with a look that spoke of great pain and the crow quickly told him, "Please set them on the ground so I can take a look at them."

Examining each digit in the low light of the cell, Yogarasu made his determination, "I know you've been through a lot, and this will hurt, but I need to set the bones before they start healing." Nodding, Naruto prepared himself while the crow stepped into position and bent down, biting the area of one finger and then setting the digit back into place. Naruto's body tensed in pain and he did his best to keep himself from making any noise as the crow proceeded to set the remaining six fingers that were broken.

Pulling back and moving against the wall when the crow was finished, Naruto remained there, breathing deeply. "Unfortunately we don't have anything for a splint...," Yogarasu said but Naruto interrupted him, "It's okay, I'll just keep still," and he began going into sage mode.

"I'm still listening," Naruto said with his eyes closed and the crow nodded before continuing, "You're right, this will make things more difficult. It does seem hopeless, I know, but I do remember a certain shinobi whose confidence in himself never changed, no matter how dire the situation seemed."

"You're gonna make me blush," Naruto said with a slight chuckle and Yogarasu chuckled softly as well before saying, "I was of course speaking of Itachi-san." Naruto's good eye opened and he was about to yell something when he found the crow laughing a little harder than before at his expense. Slightly embarrassed about falling for it, Naruto shook his head and leaned back against the wall.

Thinking back to Itachi, Naruto's thoughts eventually came upon Konoha and all of the people that he was no longer able to see. The mood was instantly soured. "That was before I lost everything and told I can't go back," Naruto informed the other occupant of the cell who also became much more serious, having lost what ground he had gained towards making progress.

"You haven't lost your life and if that is all you have left to fight for, then fight until the bitter end and hold nothing back. Don't forget, I'm here too, you're not alone. We'll both be getting out of this place," Yogarasu said with as much decisiveness as he could muster and seeing that perhaps he was getting through, he decided to keep going.

"I only know a little about the Totsuka and I doubt anyone alive knows everything about it. Look around us, does this look like a genjutsu world of drunken dreams? That is what Itachi-san told me this was going to be," the crow revealed and Naruto looked at him and said, "More like a hell which I can't escape."

Snorting slightly, the crow responded, "Perhaps for right now, but what does that tell you?

"That Itachi thinks he knows everything," Naruto quickly responded and Yogarasu ruffled his feathers in anger before saying, "It means that he was wrong, this place is...more than a genjutsu. You can feel it with that power you have. All these people are too complex for a genjutsu, they feel emotions and pain just like you. The few people we spoke with in Saboady could carry on conversations and had stories to tell of their own. They can't simply be illusions and if that is true then perhaps there is a way out, maybe not from our end but there is still a chance. However, it is guaranteed that you won't be doing or going anywhere if you just give up and let yourself die here."

Thinking over the bird's speech, Naruto realized that the crow was right, 'I never would have given up like this, and I would have been the person to yell at others for giving up.'

"So what can we do?" the blonde finally asked after a brief period of contemplation. "You tell me what you know and I'll tell you what I know," said Yogarasu and he quickly added, "Let us put our heads together and think of something. I may have heard things you didn't but you likely saw things I couldn't," he explained and Naruto nodded before thinking over everything that he had seen and felt since waking up in the cell.

"There's a lot of people here," Naruto said and Yogarasu waited for him to continue, "I've been ignoring my negative emotion sensing ability because of just how many I can feel within my range. There must be several thousand prisoners here and the majority of which are oddly below us. This place must be huge because they are gathered on different levels, some moving, most are in cages and many are on the verge of death. I can also feel other things that aren't human moving around."

Surprised by the revelation, Yogarasu now had an idea of why the usually strong willed genin was so defeated, 'He's been feeling all of the other prisoners emotions for two days. All that despair and pain combined with the torture must be taking it's toll on him,' he thought but remained silent as Naruto began talking again, "I don't know how many guards there are but I've seen some shadows, much larger and fearsome looking than any other guard and perhaps not even human. Also, beyond wherever we are, I can feel other creatures as well. I'm not sure what they are but I can feel them when they're hunting or being attacked. They must be huge but I can't tell how big they are as nothing here seems to possess chakra."

"That does make sense," stated the crow before elaborating, "When you were unconscious and on the way here, we traveled by boat and several prisoners commented about creatures called Sea Kings. I wasn't able to see them but apparently they keep anyone from getting near the prison that isn't supposed to be there. Similar to Saboady, we are on some kind of island prison but I believe that we are underwater instead of underground."

"Underwater?" Naruto questioned with surprise. He had been in more than one prison or jail cell during the missions he had but never one that was under the water.

"Yes, they called it Impel Down and apparently no one escapes from this prison, or so someone said. When the ship docked, all I heard were waves and we seem to have gone under the level of the ocean," the crow informed him. Naruto thought over what was said but he had trouble picturing in his mind being in an underwater prison. Coming back to the situation at hand, he said, "I haven't been able to get a key but if I've got my hip pouch sealed in me, then I should be able to get out of these cuffs and out of the cell without much trouble."

"What else do you have in that pouch?" asked Yogarasu as he was curious to know all that they currently had in terms of tools and possibly explosive tags.

"I'm not completely sure, loads of stuff," Naruto replied, looking up at the ceiling as if trying to image all the items that he had.

"You don't know?" asked the crow, surprised at such a statement. Most ninja memorized everything that they had and could simply reach back and grab what they needed without ever having to look through the pouch. 'Well, in the months that I've known him, he hasn't exactly proven to be a normal shinobi. He could have anything in that pouch and sealed in small storage scrolls.'

"In addition to normal ninja and mission stuff, there's a bunch of stuff that I've collected over the years. Don't crows do the same thing, collect objects and stuff?" he asked, wondering why the bird have given him a surprised look and what was so strange about losing track.

"That's a myth," Yogarasu refuted outright and he worried for a moment that he had said it too loud. After a moment of silence between the two, Naruto decided to state the obvious and said, "So we need more information."

"Definitely. Right now we don't have much to go on or plan with. The guards would of course know but they are out of the question," stated the crow and Naruto was quick to reply, "So, the other prisoners." Nodding to the statement, Yogarasu replied, "They likely know much more about this place than we do, especially since they are actually from this world, though getting them to talk will be difficult. Most people here seem to keep the talking to a minimum, possibly out of fear of the guards," he suggested and Naruto nodded as it was something that he had noticed as well.

"Unfortunately, we have nothing to trade them with," concluded the crow but Naruto was of a different opinion, "I wouldn't be too sure."

"How so?" Yoragasu asked, quite curious about what the blonde was thinking. "If there is a day or two before my execution, then there is definitely a chance and if it doesn't work, I'll have to go sifting through me pouch," Naruto informed him before asking, "How's your chakra control?"

"I have excellent chakra control but usually only have a small fraction of your reserves and given that I've had about the same food and water that you have, I'm very low on chakra. It's best that I keep my eye closed as I'll probably lose the rest of the my reserves if I open my left eye. If you're thinking that I can help very much then I'm afraid not, I can't make handseals," he informed the blonde, pointing out the fact that he didn't have fingers or even hands.

"That's fine, I just need you to help me mold chakra so I don't put too much chakra into the jutsu like I always used to," said the blonde and Yogarasu listened to the rest of the plan.

x-x

The Following day

x-x

Coming out of sage mode, Naruto felt slightly tired but nothing like he felt after using the technique for fighting. He had not been taken to be tortured but knew that most of the other prisoners had, because he could feel them not far away in one of the many torture chambers. 'I guess being scheduled for death has its perks,' he thought before hearing a sound that he had been waiting for.

Yogarasu had heard it as well and the crow jumped into his lap as they worked together to use ninjutsu. Practicing for more than an hour beforehand, Naruto carefully made the necessary handseals with his damaged fingers while Yogarasu helped him with chakra control as they completely the ninjutsu and whispering the name of the technique.

Coming down the hallway, a group of guards and a food cart stopped at the next cell. Quickly counting four people in the cell, two of the guards proceeded to get four of the small bread loafs and waters, placing them just outside the bars and within reach. Moving on to the next jail cell, they continued their duty and eventually left the hallway, going somewhere else in the complex.

Sitting facing away from the bars, Naruto had done his best to hide the large crow in his lap and waited to see if the ploy would work. Straining his neck to see, he smiled when he spotted four pairs of items sitting just outside the bars. Putting his hands up into a release seal, he ended the jutsu and the three academy level clones that they had created disappeared in quick poofs of white smoke.

Shuffling to the cell bars, Naruto used extra care when pulling all of the food and beverage items into the cell and then turned to look at his partner in crime.

"Well, I wasn't sure that would work but I'm glad to have been proven wrong," stated the bird honestly as he too hopped to the bars and looked down the hall for Naruto, making sure that no one else was coming while the blonde moved their haul. 'And I wouldn't have been able to do it if I wasn't so low on chakra and had help,' thought Naruto as it had been years since he had tried using the E-rank clone technique from the academy.

"They aren't normal guards and don't look to see if the correct number of prisoners are or aren't inside the cell. It seems their job is to just distribute the rations according to the number of people and they don't even care who in the cell gets the food," explained Naruto again as it was something he had idly taken note when the food cart came by his previous cell and the prisoners had taken his share.

"So how are we splitting this up?" questioned Yogarasu as he eyed one of the glasses of water which he hoped would temporarily assuage his dehydration.

"One drink and bread for us and then two of each to bargain for information with," suggested the blonde and the crow quickly nodded in agreement. Slowly partaking of their individual shares, they remained quiet and savored what they could of the small, bland meal. Though sorely tempted, they merely made glances at the remaining half of their food supply and refrained from speaking any desire to split what remained and not barter with it.

Once they were finished the meal, Naruto moved to the front corner of the cell, against the thick stone that separated his cell from the next and carefully took the food and beverages with him. He could tell that there were people in the next cell, the only problem was that it contained five people and he wasn't about to give away everything he had to all of them for some information. He needed to deal with one or perhaps two people at the most so he got the most out of the bread and water that he had.

"Hey, you guys in the adjoining cell," Naruto said, trying to keep his voice low but still make it audible for those in the next cell, but hopefully not the cell beyond that to hear.

"Keep it down fool, if you attract the guards, we're all in for a beating," said a masculine voice from the other side but Naruto continued, "I'm looking to get as much information I can about this prison and our execution method. I'm willing to trade for it."

"Trade?" came the same voice and he asked for clarification, "Trade what?" Taking one loaf of bread and cup of water, Naruto placed them outside his cell but far enough away that the person in the other cell could see them but not reach them.

"What you see here," answered Naruto and his reply apparently caused quite a commotion in the adjoining cell. "You've got extra food and water," a different voice said, much louder than the tones in which the previous voice and Naruto had been speaking. A scuffle soon broke out in the cell and Naruto frowned, thinking, 'And I'm supposed to be keeping my voice down to not attract the guards?'

The fight soon died down however and the voice returned, "So you want to know about the Crimson Hell and Impel? Well then, I'm definitely the person that you want to deal with," and Naruto could hear the man spit after finishing his statement and he assumed it was blood from an injury during the fight.

"Information first and then I'll move the items closer," Naruto informed the man, making the terms for the arrangement. "I want something first, give me the bread and I'll talk," countered the male voice and Naruto thought about it before reaching out and grabbing the bread. Tearing off a section, he replaced the remaining piece next to the water and tossed the chunk of bread closer to the adjoining cell.

A large hand with hairy arm quickly reached out and grabbed the bread. A moment later, Naruto could hear the man chewing and talking as he began explaining what he knew, "The worst torture and the execution method of this level is called the Crimson Hell. It's a chamber at the center of Level 1 and is full of needle-like trees, spike-like grass, and even some poisonous spiders. We're going to be taken there and forced to run around until we die from being pierced to death or blood loss."

'Holy shit!' thought Naruto as he tried to envision such an area and execution method. 'That's...a bit much,' Yogarasu thought, mirroring Naruto's feelings on the matter. Normally executions were made to be quick, like a beheading but not something that was long and drawn out to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible.

"It's been thirteen years since someone managed to escape this prison and he only did it because he had a devil fruit and cut off his legs to get out of his chains," the man then informed them.

"Cut off his legs?" repeated Naruto but not for clarification or because he thought he misheard.

"Clean off, just below the knee, from what I hear. His devil fruit ability let him fly or float away from this place once the Kairoseki leg chains were no longer in contact with the rest of his body. Other than that, there ain't no chance for escape. You can try all you want but all you'll find here as a prisoner is suffering and death," the voice elaborated and before Naruto could say or ask anything else, it continued, "But I hear there is a way out from the Crimson Hell that you can use if you make it there."

"You can get out of an execution?" questioned Naruto as it seemed odd that such a possibility existed for those slated for a long and tortuous death.

"In this place it's just one sick joke after another, but yeah, you can get out of it by jumping into the pit at the center of the chamber," said the man and he waited for the obvious follow-up question.

"Pit? Where does that go?" Naruto promptly asked as he wondered how a pit could be an escape. "It'll take you to Level 2 which is not somewhere you want to go, because it's worse than the torture in the Crimson Hell," replied the man and Naruto was quick to ask, "What's on Level 2?"

"Monsters," the man simply replied and he explained, "Creatures that you've never even heard of are kept there and they hunt and eat anyone that is out of their cells. A death sentence on Level 2 merely involves forcing prisoners out of their cells and leaving them to be eaten by the creatures that roam that level. The best place to be on Level 2 is safe within your cell, because anywhere else and you'll become lunch for something, which is why they call it the Wild Beast Hell."

"Impel down is five levels in total, with thousands of prisoners and a thousand guards, which is a lot but they are nothing compared to the higher ranking officers here. I'd rather face a thousand guards than the Warden or the Head Jailer and I hope I die before running into one of the Jailer Beasts," the voice said and both human and crow thought over what they had been told before asking more questions about the lower levels. In the end, the man knew little about Levels 3 through 5 and could only tell him that the outside was just ocean in a place called the Calm Belt which was infested with Sea Kings.

After giving the man the bread and cup of water, Naruto moved to the opposite side of the cell to think and split the last cup of water and loaf of bread with Yogarasu as they didn't need for bargaining. "If the execution is tomorrow, or in a few hours, or whatever," said Naruto as he had no way of telling what time it was or how much time passed inside the cell and away from the sun, "Do you think I should try and run?"

His mind already having been on such a subject, Yogarasu took everything into consideration before answering, "Escape outright, probably not," he said and explained his reasoning, "If they really have a thousand guards and much stronger officers than we may be in trouble. In your present condition, you can stay in Sage Mode for what, a minute or two while fighting?"

"Maybe," Naruto answered as he had no idea how long he could hold it for while moving. Usually he could stay in Sage Mode for five minutes but that was when he had all of his chakra and hadn't been recently injured and then tortured. "But once it ends, I'll be severely weakened," he reminded his companion and Yogarasu nodded, having come to a similar conclusion about the blonde's current abilities.

"Even if there are five levels and only two hundred guards a level, that is still a lot of people to go through before reaching the outside. If we are spotted by even one of those snail devices, they may do something to alert guards. Also we have no plan for what to do once outside. The prisoner said perhaps there are ships but that Marine Battleships could have more than a hundred people on them," said the crow and Naruto sighed as the situation did seem very troublesome.

Realizing that perhaps he said a little too much, Yogarasu decided to look more on the brighter side of things, "However, what we do know is that some kind of supply vessel or at least prisoner vessels come here along with fresh supplies."

"Supplies?" questioned Naruto as he wondered how the summoning animal was coming to such a conclusion, "Of course. Do you think they grow the grain to make the flour required to bake this bread and we're surrounded by ocean water and yet have fresh water given each day. This must mean that supplies are brought here regularly, whether as part of a solo shipment or along with new prisoners, but they still must be brought here."

Slightly embarrassed about missing something that Yogarasu was pointing out, Naruto just reached up and scratched the back of his head while smiling. Ignoring the reaction, Yogarasu continued, "If we can't get out, then the only alternative to death is to risk everything and go deeper in. You have some ninjutsu available and given that no one here has seen your abilities, then we have the advantage," he said and Naruto decided to make a point known, just in case Yogarasu didn't know.

"I'm not sure if you know this or not but in terms of ninjutsu, I really don't know that many techniques and only three in my wind affinity," he admitted as he could think of several jutsu known by other ninja that he worked with which would be helpful in such a situation. 'Yamato-taicho could move through rock with ease and even tunnel through it if he wanted,' he recalled and didn't have to wait long for the crow to respond, "Even basic ninjutsu are useful right now and I am aware of your lack of ninjutsu. In the moment before we were both sucked into the gourd and sealed in this world, Itachi used one of his techniques on me and provided me with a great deal of information," Yogarasu revealed and Naruto's eyes widened, wondering how it had been possible.

Deciding to start an explanation before the blonde even asked, Yogarasu began, "My master's Tsukuyomi is a powerful genjutsu that can distort the perception of time. It may have only a been a few seconds outside the jutsu but inside the technique, he spent three days providing me with ninjutsu and other techniques that might be of value to you wherever we ended up. I copied everything with this sharingan that was also given to me by Itachi-san."

"I don't want a sharingan," Naruto blurted out and Yogarasu was slightly surprised by the statement before saying sternly, "I don't remember ever saying I was giving it to you. I was planning to teach you as much as I could but our initial situation was not one for learning jutsu."

"Being chased by slavers, having no idea where we were and having no valid currency," Naruto said, summing up their initial situation upon arriving at Saboady and Yogarasu nodded, but did catch on to something in the words that were spoken, 'He said they were bounty hunters earlier but now it has switched to slavers. Perhaps he is starting to remember something...that could be a problem,' he thought but pushed it aside to focus on the execution.

"Sounds good," Naruto said as he was actually excited, probably for the first time since entering the prisoner, about learning some ninjutsu but one thing was still on his mind and he wanted to address, "How do you think I'll be able to get from the door to the pit?"

Yogarasu knew what the blonde was talking about, despite the vague question, "That is a problem, because we really don't know the layout of the Crimson Hell. They may push you into it or perhaps there is an area where that spiked grass does not grow and the door opens on it or maybe the trees will be the bigger problem. We can't be sure at this point. You'll have to assess the situation quickly and come up with something on the spot."

Naruto breathed deeply and exhaled before nodding. He was feeling nervous though he wasn't sure if it was because of his impending execution, the unknowns, or because of the danger past that point. 'I suppose it's mostly going to up to luck and quick thinking,' he surmised and leaned against he wall, resting his head on the hard, cool surface.

However, there was one thing that he hadn't mentioned to the crow and it may have been the thought in his head that would keep him from sleeping much, 'The man in the next cell said there were five levels, but I can feel six distinct levels that prisoners are on. If that information is wrong, then what else could be incorrect?' he wondered but tried to push such thoughts aside.

x-x

A smack to the head was the method which Yogarasu chose to wake the blonde up and a groggy Naruto looked around the cell to see a worried looking crow. Realizing their situation and the fact that he had at some point fallen completely asleep, he soon became fully awake moments after hearing footsteps coming. "Open up," said the bird before jumping into his mouth and somehow cramming itself down his throat.

Nearly choking and then coughing, Naruto realized that he didn't have much time and ignored the bird's actions in favor of adopting a meditative pose to quickly go into Sage Mode. The guards were lining up outside his cell and several others in the hallway. 'Hurry, hurry, hurry,' Naruto repeated in his head as soldiers took aim at the cell and a single guard began going through keys to find the one for the lock on his cell.

Nature energy was soon gathering to him and he began mixing it in a balanced ratio with the mental and physical energy of his chakra right as an audible click could be heard. An accompanying squeaking from the hinges told him that his cell door had been opened. The guards waited a few moments for him to stand and walk out on his own before going in to get him. Hearing the footsteps come towards him as two guards reached for his cuffs to pull him to a standing position, Naruto just finished balancing the three and entered Sage Mode as they lifted him and harshly escorted him out of the cell.

Keeping his head down so his unkempt hair partially covered the changes with his eyes, the blonde cooperated with the guards and followed at the end of the line of prisoners to be executed. Feeling something behind him, Naruto turned his head to see a very large shadowy figure following just behind the group of soldiers behind him and the outline was unlike anything he had seen. At first he thought it was wearing some kind of helmet with horns but he also noted that it was almost five meters tall and broader than human he had ever seen.

Worried about what role the monster would be playing in the execution, he turned back around and tried to get an idea of what the creature was feeling. Surprisingly though, he could feel no emotions coming from it. It walked with heavy steps but seemed to not be feeling much of anything, almost blank.

'Is it the result of some kind of devil fruit ability or just some kind of creature that I've never seen before?' Naruto wondered but couldn't be sure and certainly wasn't about to ask. Eventually the line of prisoners stopped at a large door and they were greeted by a set of guards wearing an executioner style uniform. Despite standing at the end of the line, Naruto noted that the waiting guards had on much larger and heavier looking boots which made a heavy, clanking sound with every step.

Up ahead, Naruto could hear and then see a portion of the prisoners, maybe only four or five, being forced into the door that had just been opened by the new guards. As some resisted, the creature standing behind Naruto moved past him in the wide hallway and to the front of the line. 'It's a huge bull-like creature,' the blonde realized as it walked by him and dropped a large steel mace to the floor, which began dragging behind it as it marched towards the unruly prisoners.

As soon as the prisoners saw what Naruto assumed was a Jailer Beast, they stopped resisting, transfixed on the large beast and the guards managed to get them all into the door before shutting it behind them. With one group down, the prisoners were then escorted around a circular hallway to what Naruto assumed would be the second door while the creature waited for them to pass and then resumed its position at the back of the line.

'What a dumb looking face and gaze,' thought Naruto as he quickly glanced at it and believed he knew why he really couldn't feel much coming from it, 'I'm not sure it's anything more than just an animal.'

With more prisoners being sent in at the second door, Naruto began getting worried, and for good reason, 'I'm at the end of the line and this is taking much longer than I thought it would. By the time I get to my door, Sage Mode will have ended,' he realized and made up his mind to act. Halting for the third door, the new group of prisoners began unlocking it and Naruto took off as fast as he could towards the front of the line.

Moving straight for the door, he ignored the shouts but payed attention to something else, 'Holy shit is it fast!' he thought as he felt the beast give chase and it was quickly catching up to him. Feeling it's killing intent, he also felt the incoming attack as the mace was raised and brought down. Reaching the door, he aimed a flying kick to the side where the hinges were. The thick wood and steel bar reinforced door broke off its hinges, and was sent along with Naruto, flying into the Crimson Hell. A rush of wind behind him let the blonde know that he had narrowly missed being hit by the mace, which smashed through the stone archway above the top of where the door had been.

Skidding on stone, Naruto heard the spiked grass bite into the door, causing it to halt and he found himself also heading right for the endless patch of crimson grass. Putting his hands down and adding chakra to them, he managed to stop himself from going off the slightly raised semicircle of stone that was just inside the doorway. Looking around, he was slightly dumbfounded by what he was seeing before shouts behind him warranted immediate action.

Not able to see anything over the large spiked trees, Naruto found that the surrounding walls were stone and he could have run up them but he decided not to show that off as several of the snails were positioned on the walls around the large circular room. Looking to the door, he smirked before grabbing it and pulling it off the spiked grass. The thick wood boards were still held in place by the iron or steel reinforcing, so he picked it up and aimed for a tree he thought he could jump to. Throwing the door, he ignored the guards coming inside the room behind him and watched it hit the tree, sinking the spikes on it deeply into the thick wood and securing it in place for his use.

A bullet flew passed Naruto's face as another impacted his back but couldn't penetrate because of his Sage Mode, merely crushing on his skin and falling to the floor. Judging the distance and crouching down, Naruto put all the strength he had into the toad-like jump and aimed for the door. Ignoring the additional sounds of gunfire and yelling of guards, the feeling of weightlessness appeared in his stomach as he flew over the crimson grass and past a few of the trees that were close to the entrance he had just broken through.

His jump was on target and though the landing was a little rough, the impact forced the door further onto the spikes of the dangerous looking tree. Stuck to the vertically secured door and attached with chakra, the blonde's heart was pounding in his chest as he waited to see if the door would stay where it was or not. When it didn't, he experimentally touched the door's edge and gave it a little pull, finding it rather securely held onto the tree with only the very tip of the spikes poking through the wood in one area.

'I can't believe that worked so well,' he thought, sitting on the near vertical surface of the door and at least twenty feet in the air. The view from the tree gave him his first broad view of the Crimson Hell and he looked over it in horror as everything came into focus.

The trees were similar to pine trees but instead of needles, they had arrangements of spear-like tips that resembled steel stained with blood. Only the tops halves of the trees retained the original silver color as everything below that area was different shades of crimson. The spiked grass was also a patchwork of different crimson hues with the area near the entry doors receiving heavier coats than areas further in towards the center of the gigantic chamber that was the Crimson Hell.

Ignoring the screams of other prisoner that he could not help, Naruto continued examining his surroundings. Looking to the outer wall he spotted a thin balcony running the perimeter and a single small building jutting out from the wall with two doors and a few slits for windows. 'So I could have made it to that building by just jumping up the wall and running along the balcony,' he realized with a frown as that seemed far less dangerous and foolhardy than what he had done. Looking to the center of the gigantic room, he spotted a circular hole in the floor where fewer trees were and found that the information from the other prisoner appeared accurate.

'I can't reach that in one jump,' he suddenly realized and decided to take a moment to think and gather more natural energy so he didn't lose Sage mode. It would take the guards at least a few minutes to get to where he was. Once he was done gathering and mixing everything into senjutsu chakra, he opened his eyes again and took a good look over his situation.

He was nearly halfway to the pit but there was one obvious problem, 'I'm all out of doors,' he thought and couldn't see a single safe area to jump to. 'Can I keep myself from being skewered from the grass and trees?' he wondered but couldn't be sure. While in Sage Mode he was protected from most physical attacks but he had never experimented with figuring out how much protection he had and if he was resistant to bladed weapons.

'Can I split my chakra with it being this low?' he questioned but given that he was almost halfway between the hole and the outer balcony, either way he would have to do something in order to reach a safe area. Shadow clones wasted little chakra if they were created and destroyed quickly. The chakra divided amongst the clones was quickly returned if they dispelled, it was only when they stayed around or used jutsu that his overall chakra was used up. The danger in the technique was creating too many and dividing the originals chakra enough times that it reached a dangerously low level.

'That building could be a guard post for all I know and my Sage Mode won't last forever. I should be able to make one shadow clone at a time and get to the pit,' Naruto convinced himself and moving to the top of the available safe area on the door, he prepared to jump again and put his hands in the cross shaped seal for his signature jutsu.

Leaping towards the pit, Naruto waited until he was at the apex of his jump, when he had lost all of his vertical velocity, and then shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A single clone appeared just ahead of him and suspended in the air, parallel with the floor. Landing on it's back, the original quickly jumped again and put enough force into the leap to force the clone quickly to the trees or grass below and dispel it so he could and recover the chakra that was split.

Repeating the process again, he aimed what he hoped would be his last jump directly at the pit and lept off the second clone. The ground approached fast and he had a hard time determining if he would land at the raised stone edge of the pit or just inside the grass-line and on the spikes. When the basic slipper-like shoes he had been given, just made it onto the stone edge, he stood off balance for a moment, teetering between falling backwards and falling forwards into the pit. Moving his arms to correct the imbalance, he exhaled when he managed to move fully onto the stone rim and suddenly felt steady on his feet. It was only at that point that he finally took a good looked down at the hole in front of him.

'Deeper than I imagined,' he thought with some concern before taking a breath and jumping down into the seemingly bottomless hole. Keeping close to the wall, he hoped to be able to slow his fall, just in case his Sage Mode didn't last until the bottom of the dark pit.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I do not own Naruto or One Piece

Chapter 4: Level 2 woes

Impel Down Arc 4

x-x

Putting his hand along the wall as he dropped, Naruto used the friction to help slow down his descent as he could finally see the bottom. Crouching, he impacted hard on the stone but only made a few spiderweb cracks. Looking around the dark area, he found four paths to take that made the large circular room something of an intersection. Wondering which direction to choose, Naruto stumbled and used the wall to help him keep himself upright as Sage Mode ended.

An incredible fatigue came over him and he was forced to sit as his body cried out in protest to any more movement. Breathing heavily, he cringed as he felt a familiar feeling coming up from his stomach. As Yogarasu emerged from his mouth, Naruto wanted to be sick and soon demanded, "We need to find a better way or you'll just have to stay out permanently because I'm fed up with swallowing and regurgitating you."

Frowning as he didn't like it anymore than the blonde did, Yograsu turned his attention to the new area they were in and examined all that he could with his one eye. 'Good, I don't see any of those snails but I am getting a terrible feeling about this place,' he thought and made sure nothing was coming down any of the hallways before looking to the blonde to see how Naruto was doing.

"I'm just tired, Yoga-san," was all Naruto responded with to the look of concern that the crow was giving him. What he really wanted was to just go to sleep but he also understood the dangerous situation they were in. If the prisoner was right about Level 2, then if he slept, he likely would be woken up when something tried to eat him.

"We need to move and find some kind of shelter," said the crow with urgency in his voice and Naruto understood, pushing his body to slowly get to his feet and using the circular wall for support. "Which way?" the blonde asked as he again examined each of the four choices but couldn't see which way was the best to take. The area they were in was quite dark and the ends of each hallway appeared brighter but nothing beyond could be seen.

Two of the hallways had short staircases while one had numerous tall arched hallways that didn't appear to lead back to the other hallways but could have gone anywhere. Another of the hallways led to a t-shaped intersection with faint traces of light coming from both choices. The overall design appeared to be designed to confuse anyone that fell into the pit, presenting them with many choices which possibly all led to places they didn't want to end up.

'A good sense of smell or the ability to sense the creatures would be the best thing to have right now, unfortunately, we have neither. My best sense is my sight but that won't help and I can't hear anything in particular...but one way does seem quieter,' Yogarasu thought and decided to relay that information to his partner.

Naruto thought over what Yogarasu had said and decided to choose, "Let's take the quiet path," he said but the crow was quick to protest, "Hold on. A quieter path isn't necessarily a good thing. We're dealing with unknown beasts here." Sighing, Naruto looked at the other available options before pointing out one, "Lets go this way."

"And what are you basing that decision on?" questioned the bird, to which Naruto simply responded, "Nothing."

"Hmph, fine, good enough for me," said Yogarasu because he knew that moving was probably better than sitting still and waiting for something to show up. Slowing down to keep a steady pace with Naruto, they crept down the straight hallway that had been chosen. Straining their senses for any sign of movement or noise, they had nearly reached the end and come out into the light when a group of shadows moved across the floor at the opening. As the shadow got larger and a creature emerged to look around the corner, it was quickly followed by four others.

They were sniffing the ground and Naruto stared at them from the ceiling of the opening as he stuck to the stone wall with chakra. Looking to the nearby perched crow, he gave Yogarasu a look as if to ask, 'What the heck are those things,' the bird made a motion like a shrug and they continued to stare at the odd lion-like creatures. Unlike a lion, however, the creatures heads were larger and had facial features more similar to a human with flat faces and dark eyebrows.

Watching them finding his scent, Naruto angled his head so he could hear better as he actually thought he heard them saying something. "Katsudon," said one as it slowly followed the trail back to the circular room he had fallen into and another one seemed to reply, "Panties." Though neither prisoner couldn't tell whether they were trying to use the words to communicate or just able to use human speech, it was pretty creapy.

Deciding not to stay on the ground, Naruto slowly moved along the wall with Yogarasu grabbing the striped shirt and holding on. His hand movements were careful as he didn't want the chains on his cuffs to rattle or make any sound that would attract attention and he also had to use his palms because his fingers were still injured. Coming out into the main prison area of Level 2, their eyes widened as they could finally see the cavernous level. It was a myriad of arched entrances, staircases, arched bridges and wooden walkways that seemed to have no end in terms of length. They could tell that it appeared to be five floors high, but the openness of the hallways and levels made it very confusing. 'I'm getting dizzy just looking at it,' Naruto thought and he wondered where they should go from there.

Prison cells appeared to be placed all over the place. Some of the placements made sense and were all aligned but others were of varying sizes and almost randomly placed . Also, nothing seemed symmetrical between both sides of the hallway. The only similarity in the level was the famliar looking stone that seemed to have been used throughout Impel Down. A growl could be heard either in the distance or close by as it seemed to echo through the level. 'So not only do I have to avoid what's here but also keep from being seen by other prisoners,' Naruto thought and continued to move away from the lion-like creatures, hoping they wouldn't look up or start following him.

"Where exactly should we go?" Naruto asked while he kept moving along but knew that he couldn't keep sticking to the wall forever. "I have no idea," Yogarasu replied, explaining, "I didn't think it would look like this. Finding some place high up would be best, that way we could escape the creatures that we've seen so far...wait, _stop_," he said in a hushed but emphasized voice and Naruto refrained from taking crawling any farther.

Though he was about to ask, he soon heard what the crow was referring to and looking down. Yogarasu had spotted something stuck to the wall beneath them. The snail was placed on the wall, but it was facing down towards the ground. Making a, 'Zzzeeeeeee,' sound as it's head panned back and forth, Naruto and Yogarasu watched as it continued to move in the same simple patter; only taking a break as it reached the farthest it could turn it's head and then going back in the other direct.

'They really are like some kind of security cameras,' they both thought and knew that they needed to be more diligent from then on. Moving past the snail, they continued until Yogarasu spotted something, "Up there," he said and pointed his beak towards one of the large wooden walkways that was several floors above them. "The bridges?" Naruto questioned and the crow nodded before saying, "The angled supports on either sides. Those should give us some cover and a place to hide for now. We need to rest and strategize." Naruto nodded in understanding and headed to the closest wooden bridge that they could see.

Trying to stay completely out of sight was proving impossible as, even crawling on the wall, the area was open enough that unless he moved to the ceiling, they would be visible at some point, so Naruto resorted to jumping or even moving as swiftly as he could along the wall on just his feet so he could get to the hiding spot. As he moved, Naruto could feel his feet starting to slip as he tired and chakra control grew harder. Finally reaching the bridge, he climbed up the large timber supports and laid down on the face of the heavy angled beam. Sliding to keep himself from the edge and in the shadow of the walkway as best as he could, Naruto stopped moving to rest.

Jumping off Naruto, Yogarasu found a nice perch in the corner of where the beam connected to the stone and looked over the area. He hoped to identify further threats to them while the blonde tried to catch his breath. 'This place is a maze. Hallways and corridors splinter off in all directions and I've lost track of where we came in at,' admitted the crow as he looked down below.

'I've looked at several cells along our journey and most are full, though the prisoners seem lethargic and few if any were even looking outside their cells. Hopefully that means we weren't spotted,' thought Yogarasu as he continued to remain watchful over the levels below them.

"I'm guessing this place is only temporary?" asked Naruto while he stared at the underside of the walkway above him and the crow soon responded, "Indeed, we can't stay here as there isn't enough cover. Perhaps ten or so minutes at most would be good. Also we won't be able to get any food and have no idea if guards patrol or not on this level."

Nodding and closing his eyes as he had just shy of ten minutes to relax, Naruto found himself wondering something, "How many of those snails did you see?" Thinking back, Yogarasu counted off the ones he remembered and replied, "At least five. They seem to cover intersections and entrances to certain hallways but there certainly aren't enough of them to cover the whole level. These blind spots will definitely help us."

"Since we have this time, you should get your ninja pouch out," suggested the crow and Naruto nodded as they had fallen asleep before his execution and forgotten to unlock his cuffs. Lifting up his striped shirt, Naruto pooled some chakra into the area where the seal was on his abdomen and when it appeared, the blonde noted that it was already unlocked. Laying back, he closed his eyes and proceeded to enter the seal.

A tugging feeling led him to the familiar underground pathways and he quickly made his way to the seal area. Seeing the gate open and the cell empty was no longer something that surprised him as he moved to the ninja pouch that was on the floor. Picking it up, Naruto glanced through it quickly and found the lock picks that he was after.

'How do I get them out of the seal?' he wondered, standing with the picks and looking around for an exit or some other way. Technically, he wasn't physically there, his body was not real but the ninja pouch and its contents were.

'Do I need to use a handseal from outside or does this mean that if I go back they'll appear in the real world as well?' the former jinchuuriki questioned as the seal was already unlocked and yet the ninja pouch was still inside of him. Though it had held the Kyuubi for nearly two decades, he had never tried to seal anything else inside. The complicated fuinjutsu on his stomach was more than just a storage seal and yet he was apparently now trying to use it as such.

Frowning, he just decided to go back outside and closing his eyes, he felt himself leaving the seal. When he opened his eyes again, Naruto was laying on the same wooden support beam but he noted a cold feeling on his stomach. Looking down, he found the two lock picks sitting on his skin and right on the area where the seal was.

'It worked,' he thought as the items were unsealed with the similar white smoke produced as with storage seals. Pocketing the items, the blonde soon wondered if he could just as easily seal them back inside the seal. With the success, he decided to sit back and try to enjoy the break. A gust of wind soon blew passed and he enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his hair until he realized that something was wrong.

'I haven't felt any wind since we entered here and we're inside,' the blonde recognized and glancing to the opposite support for the bridge, he saw a shadow that soon became a very large face of a creature. The green scaly skin of the head was complimented with yellow eyes and an odd tongue that hung out of his mouth. Almost a full second went by as blue stared into yellow and Naruto wondered what the hell he was looking at.

Unable to speak any warning as he knew what was coming next, Naruto pushed the unaware crow off the support beam and rolled himself off. Moments later, the wood on the bridge splintered and snapped under powerful jaws that tore through it, trying to get to the escaped prisoner.

"You bastard! What was..." Yogarasu began yelling as he spread his wings and stopped his fall but as he looked back, he didn't say anything else as he got the gist of what had happened. Naruto, however, did not have wings and fell to the next walkway below, landing hard on the stone surface before glancing back and seeing the monster that had just tried to eat them.

The large chicken-like creature possessed additional features of some kind of lizard with scales on its head, large sharp teeth, scales on it's belly and even a long lizard-like tail. It was less than a quarter of the size of some of the toad summons he'd used but still large and quite intimidating given it's appearance. A larger gust of wind soon hit both escapees as the winged creature jumped off the mostly destroyed bridge and used it stubby wings to slow it's descent.

Seeing the perusing creature, Naruto jumped straight to ground level and began running away. How tired he had been feeling earlier was forgotten as he focused entirely on the new threat. A roar quickly followed that didn't resemble any creature that Naruto had ever heard before but he kept moving and turned slightly to see if Yogarasu was following with him or not.

"We've been spotted by those snails," the bird yelled to him as a thud on the floor announced the creatures landing which was proceeded by more heavy steps as it gave chase. Not only the snails, but most of the prisoners were now awake and looking to see what was happening as they heard the familiar sounds of the Basilisk finding prey.

Seeing that he wasn't going to lose the creature easily in his current state, the blonde decided to do try something else, "Where are there no snails up ahead?" Naruto yelled but didn't look up as he turned down another hallway and then ran up a staircase to try and put some distance between himself and the creature.

Hearing the blonde, Yogarasu knew what Naruto was after one of the blind spots that he had spoken about. Though he didn't want to, the crow opened his other eye, revealing a Sharingan and used it to quickly identify where the snails where and the areas they were watching. Closing the left eye moments after opening it, the crow strained himself to speed up his flight, moving ahead of the blonde and then turned at the next intersection.

Following the bird, Naruto made a single handseal as he rounded the corner and was briefly out of view from the chasing predator. A moment later, the same blonde in striped prison clothes ran back out from the hallway and continued running further down the hall. Landing on the corner of the second floor, the impact and weight of the creature easily bent the protective railing and caused some of the stone to break as it halted it's turn and eyed the running blonde. Screeching out, it jumped up and glided further down the hall before landing and taking off in a run.

Naruto remained completely still for the instant that the bird was directly above the wall he was standing against. He could feel it breathing and move to look at his clone before it resumed the chase. Had it looked down, it would have noticed a the real blonde prisoner and a crow sitting on his shoulder. Seconds passed as Naruto felt his heart beating out of his chest before he realized that the creature had indeed left and that he didn't have much time.

It was likely closing in on his clone and if it realized that it had been duped, it may try to track him down. 'I have no idea what its intelligence is or how strong its senses are,' Naruto acknowledged before he finally exhaled and relaxed back against the stone wall for some support. As he felt the clone get eaten, Naruto waited for not the influx of information but for the chakra that was returning back to him. It wasn't much, far less than how much chakra he usually had in his clones but as he really didn't have that much at the moment, he needed it back before moving on.

"The prisoners are looking at us," whispered Yogarasu and Naruto glanced over to see a few of the cells in the area had a view of them. He didn't know if they would inform someone that he was still alive or not and had no idea what they thought of a crow. Ignoring everything else, Naruto closed his eyes to get a feel of their current area. 'There are a good number of prisoners but not as much as in other areas. We may be able to find an empty cell,' he thought before moving to the nearest small side hallway and peering down to see what was in it.

He spotted many cells and comparing those with what he could feel, he failed to find an empty cell for them. Deciding it was best to not stay out in the open, he went into the hallway and out of the main prison area. Passing filled cells, the blonde moved as swiftly as possible before he stopped at the intersection in the narrow hallway and looked in the direction available to him. One way led back out into the open while the other led deeper in.

Feeling for the negative emotions of the prisoners, he noted that the hallway leading deeper in contained no prisoners, possibly leading to a dead end, so he turned his attention to the other direction. One of the cells was empty, right on the end and just before the hallway led back to the main corridors of the level so he and headed for it. Moving up the wall, Naruto crawled along the ceiling just above the cells that were full to stay out of sight. Only one side of the hallway had cells and once he reached the cell he was after, he quietly crawled down and stepped back onto the floor. Sitting on one knee in front of the cell door, he glanced at the crow, who nodded in understanding and moved to a better spot to keep watch for them as Naruto fished out the lock picks from his pocket.

Throwing the tumblers on the basic lock, Naruto slowly pulled the cell door open, careful to not let it squeak too much, he only opened it far enough for him to squeeze through. Shutting it behind him, cell door locked automatically locked and the blonde moved to a the back corner of the cell to sit down. His body wasn't that stiff but soon the adrenaline would wear off and he would likely be even more tired than he had been.

Yogarasu was still outside the cell but was able to move through the breaks in the bar grid pattern and walk right inside. Naruto frowned at how easily the crow could get in and out but ignored it in favor of asking a question that was on his mind, "Do you have any idea what that thing was?" he asked in a whisper and Yogarasu looked at him oddly before saying, "Just because I'm a summoning creature does not mean that what we just saw wasn't as strange and odd to me as it was to you. It looked like some kind of chicken-lizard but beyond that I have no idea."

"Do you think it can still get at us?" Naruto questioned and the crow moved closer to the bars to look at the area that they had ended up in. "We are near the end of this hallway but its head looked to large to fit in here and I don't think it would keep trying," he wagered and Naruto gave him a look before inquiring as it why that was.

"Out of all the cells that we went by, did you see any that were mangled or looked as though the beasts that reside here had tried to get in and eat prisoners?" the bird asked and Naruto shook his head while Yogarasu continued with a possible explanation, "I have a feeling that these animals are trained to only go after those out of their cells. The prisoners look more bored than anything else so we shouldn't have to worry about these beasts until we exit the cell."

Nodding as what the crow said was making sense, Naruto rested his head against the stone of the wall and brought his knees to his chest to curl up slightly. Yogarasu moved be behind Naruto's ankles so that he could stay out of sight and hidden in the shadows as he too was feeling extremely tired from the chase and usage of the Sharingan. It was obvious that they wouldn't be going anywhere else until they had a better idea of the level and where they were in reference to an exit point.

x-x

Another day passes

x-x

Hearing a knock at his door and a Marine saying his name, Sengoku sighed before telling the man he could enter. Being the Fleet Admiral meant that all new and information was constantly being relayed or sent to him so he could remain as up-to-date as possible. This unfortunately meant that he had very little time without interruption.

Standing in the Fleet Admiral's room and before the desk, the Marine saluted before relaying the information that had just come through, "Sengoku-san, we've just gotten a report from Saboady that the black flames have dispersed," the man said, stating from memory everything that he had been told.

"Dispersed? You mean they still hadn't found a way to put them out yet?" demanded the Fleet Admiral and the Marine shrunk back a little before saying, "From the information we just received, the flames suddenly stopped just a few minutes ago," which was all the information he had.

'How many days has it been since the fire started,' the afro sporting man thought before he added them up and realized, 'Seven?! That many?' Looking back to the Marine from his contemplative staring at his desk, Sengoku soon asked another question, "What about the escaped...applicants...have we managed to find them?"

"I haven't received any word that they've been found, Sir," said the man and Sengoku dismissed the younger officer so he could sigh in peace without anyone hearing him. With thoughts resurfacing concerning all the information that had passed his desk in the seven days since the initial incident, he recalled even some photos of the fire that had been documented with the originals sent to him and the negative destroyed.

The image of the black flames slowly burning the building to nothingness would likely be etched in his mind for some time to come. "Seven days," he repeated out loud and knew by then, that the building was likely completely gone with only a crater of ash left in its place.

'Was the fire stopped by someone or did it have some kind of time limit?' the Fleet Admiral found himself wondering as he ignored the other reports and paperwork on his desk. It was bad enough that they apparently hadn't found a way to put them out, 'But to last for so long, far longer than any normal flame,' he thought while shaking his head slightly. In his experience, such effects sounded more like that of a mythical zoan or perhaps paramecia but he couldn't think of any legend or story that involved black flames, nor had something similar ever been noted in the files he had his men search through.

Sengoku had already ruled out a logia as that just didn't make sense because there was already the Mera Mera no Mi, but to his knowledge it had yet to be consumed again, nor was it able to produce black flames. 'So the special flames last for days, consume anything they come in contact with but burn slowly and don't spread much...I just want to catch this person and toss them into Impel Down before they do anything else,' he concluded and though it may be difficult, he really wanted the user brought in alive.

Once killed, the power of a devil fruit was somehow transferred back into another fruit, whether at random or by some unknown pattern. Therefore, if they killed the culprit, then the devil fruit would just show up somewhere else and with a different user. The best course of action was to send the user straight to Level 6 so he wouldn't have to worry again about it in his lifetime.

x-x

Waking up with a start, Naruto thought for a moment that he was still waiting to be executed before he realized where he was and groaned because he was no closer to getting out then he had been when he had first woken up in the prison. Looking around, he found Yogarasu under his knees, hiding in the shadow cast by his legs and the corner of the empty cell. It took a few seconds for him to realize that food and water had been placed outside his cell but before he could even get up, he saw movement outside in the hallway.

Worried it might be guards, a monster or some kind of patrol, he stayed still as he watched the slight movement of a shadow in what little light came in the small side hallway. His eyes widened as the cautious shadow darted and he caught sight of the creature as it moved past his cell, grabbing his bread and running away out of sight. 'Fucking rat!' Naruto thought as he just stared at the empty space that was once occupied by the bread. 'A huge fucking rat,' Naruto corrected himself as he recalled the size of the creature, 'It looked more like a dog.'

Just remembering food had made his stomach hurt and he slumped against the nearby wall again before forcing his stiff body to stand and moved to get the water before another rat or other creature stole that as well. The noise from his stomach awoke the sleeping bird and Naruto slowly drank half of the water before offering Yogarasu the rest.

"Did you eat the bread?" questioned the crow as he was rather hungry but wasn't going to accuse the blonde as it was always possible that prisoners on Level 2 weren't fed in the same manner, amount, or frequency.

"A rat stole it," Naruto admitted and the crow eyed him for a few seconds before asking, "A rat?"

"A big rat," Naruto added with a dull look as he wasn't feeling up to defending his lack of action or concern over the loss. He also didn't care if the crow believed him or not.

"Are we talking a sewer rat?" Yogarasu questioned, intrigued about the animal that had stolen their meal. "What does it matter?" Naruto asked back and the crow clarified, "Did it look edible?" Naruto looked back into the single black eye before then turning away. He tilted his head to the side as he considered the question and thought back to the how the rat had looked.

"Yeah, I suppose it looked edible. It's fur was off-white but it looked clean and not skinny at all. It's probably well fed if it steals enough bread," Naruto answered and Yogarasu nodded before saying, "Tomorrow we'll get the jump on it." Naruto smiled slightly at the statement but couldn't help wondering how they would cook it.

When Yogarasu had finished the water, Naruto put the cup back outside the cell for the guards to take and then turned to the bird but before he could say anything, Yogarasu spoke, "We need more food and water. Using the same trick as before will buy us time but with the amount that we're getting, we'll have less than a month before either of us will be basically stuck here and unable to move much because of lack of food, malnutrition and dehydration. Beyond that, I don't think we can last more than a few months on one piece of bread and glass of water day."

"Are all these prisoners relatively new? How do they manage get by with such a small amount?" Naruto questioned but Yogarasu didn't have such answers and merely shook his head. 'There are many prisoners on this level but no way of knowing how long they've been here unless we ask,' thought the crow and so he turned his attention to other matters.

"Despite what I said the other day, I am no condition to train you in anything right now and you are certainly in no condition to waste chakra and strength, even if you managed to learn something useful to our survival. It will remain as such until we find a good place to stay and have more food and water. Since we have some time right now and nothing else to do, we should go through what you have in that ninja pouch of yours," Yogarasu suggested and Naruto nodded before closing his eyes and entering the seal to retrieve the sealed item.

Lifting up his shirt, the unlocked seal was in plain view as the pouch appeared with only a small amount of smoke creation and little noise. When Naruto opened up the pouch, Yogarasu hopped to a position close by so he could see what all the blonde had.

Not bothering with the few kunai that he had left, Naruto pulled out the explosive notes and counted them, finding that he had six left. Replacing them, he then pulled out the medical kit and found it just as he left it. Sakura had given it to him at some point after he had returned form his training trip and his attention turned to the item beneath the medical kit.

It was a small bottle of ointment that had managed to move its way to the bottom of the pouch. The item had been given to him during the Chunin Exams held in Konoha more than three years previously and he had held onto it, using it sparingly and only when needed. 'If I remember correctly, it's almost gone,' he thought and carefully placed it back where he found it. Looking to the last section of the pouch, he pulled out three scrolls and began examining the first one.

There were countless configurations for storage scrolls but what Yogarasu was seeing was something else and it was readily apparent as soon as Naruto started unrolling the first one. 'These are extremely high quality and not just something that someone would buy at any ninja supply store,' he realized and had to ask, "Where did you get these storage scrolls?"

Oh...,' and Naruto paused for a moment before confirming what Yogarasu suspected, "...Ero-sennin made them for me after he looked over the ones that I had and nearly tossed them into the garbage."

While Naruto took a moment as his thoughts moved elsewhere after mentioning the deceased, Yogarasu nodded as he was aware of what had happened but was slightly more concerned over their situation than Naruto's loss of a precious person. 'I wonder how much fuinjutsu knowledge he has?' he thought but decided not to ask at the moment as he wanted to know about what the blonde had inside.

It seemed from first glance that most of the storage seals were full and with various one symbol descriptions that didn't help much to identify the contents. A person knowledgeable with fuinjutsu could make excellent storage seals, good enough to nest them, or simply put, store a storage scroll inside of a storage scroll. This vastly improved upon the storage capacity of just a single small scroll turning it into virtually endless storage space. 'That is likely what he has here, in which case it's actually not that surprising that he has forgotten what he has in these,' thought Yogarasu before asking, "Do you remember now what you have in this one?"

Looking back down at the scroll and coming out of his memories of Jiraiya, Naruto glanced over the letters and recalled what he had placed in the scroll, "This one is mostly camping equipment and items needed for missions which doesn't include weapons. I've got travel cloaks, a tent, extra clothes, my sleeping bag and a bunch of stuff like that."

"What about water canteens and food supplies?" questioned Yogarasu as that was their primary concern at the moment. "Yeah, I should have some of that in here somewhere. I definitely had a canteen and possibly some rations that were leftover from some missions and that I just stuffed in one of these," responded Naruto as he unrolled more of the scroll but was stopped by the beak of the crow and the blonde understood that he could look for it later as it was probably a bad idea to completely unroll the scroll or start unsealing multiple items while in the cell.

"And this next scroll?" inquired Yogarasu, as he motioned to the similar looking small scroll that was in the middle of the pile of three. Taking up the blue scroll, which was different from the green he had been looking through earlier, Naruto said, "This one has extra ninja supplies, some kunai, shuriken, explosive notes, and a lot of other stuff that I got during my training trip and have been using since. I'm not sure how much is left but I had a good supply when I started.

"Excellent, those will come in very handy and are something you are familiar with," stated the crow as the weapons called rifles and pistols were quite odd to them and besides the firearms, most people seemed to use swords and usually sabers instead of katana or ninjato.

"What about the last scroll?" Yogarasu inquired as he had a feeling that the last one was different and was the primary reason why Naruto had originally given him an unsure answer when he asked about the contents of the ninja pouch.

"This one," Naruto said, picking up the blue scroll and he unrolled it so that the crow could see it's configuration.

'This one is even a preservation storage scroll,' the crow realized as such a scroll was a bit rarer than most and could be used to store food items for long-term storage. The seal made sure to take only the intended item as it was, almost stopping the passage of time on the item as it sat inside the created pocket dimension. Though it was primarily made for food and perishable items, it could also be used to store other non-living items such as corpses, keeping them from rotting. However, like other storage seals, it could not be used to seal something living. Few knew exactly how such seals worked and only a seal master was skilled enough to create them.

"Ero-sennin said this scroll was special and would keep the items that I had preserved, so I put a bunch of different things in it after he gave it to me a few years back. Honestly...I've forgotten all that I've put in it. It became more of a place to store things that I wasn't regularly using and things that were personal or even just items that I picked up or had no other place to put them," the blonde said, looking over the single descriptive characters in each of the line of seals.

Yogarasu scrutinized each of the ones that he could see as the scroll was only partially unfurled and likely had many more storage seals further in. 'Wave, Tea, Snow, Travel, Death,...wait?!', the crow thought before blurting out, "Why does that one say death?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about those things. Don't worry about it right now," said Naruto without really explaining the contents. Though he was really hungry and knew that the items inside that seal might help, he decided better of it, 'They taste too horrible and I'd rather starve than eat them,' he concluded and left it at that.

"Alright fine, but what about the others?" Yogarasu asked and Naruto looked at the first one, 'Wave,' before he started remembering the contents. "The first one is stuff I got from my first mission outside the village. We went to the Land of Waves and a lot happened because the client lied to us. At the end of the mission, there were a lot of persistent mercenaries that came back to try and take the village after their employer was killed. wW defeated them and I was in charge of taking away their weapons. I think I took a few for myself and sealed them away along with a few senbon. Likewise, the second seal is from another mission that I ended up with a few items that I took from enemies," Naruto admitted and Yogarasu gave him a strange look while thinking, 'Most would call that stealing,' but he also knew that it wasn't necessarily wrong.

'He likely didn't kill those that probably tried to kill him so they were turned over to authorities, taken into custody or sent back to their own village. Taking a few items from them isn't all that bad considering whoever he faced, he could have just killed them and taken everything from them,' the crow thought and decided not to comment.

"Aside from stuff related to missions, the rest is mostly personal stuff...," said Naruto as he trailed off and Yogarasu decided not to pry about it.

'So this is what we have in addition to a Sharingan that I can't use without depleting my chakra,' thought the crow and though things seemed a little bleak, he didn't think it would be impossible to get out. 'Careful planning and information gathering will be key. Unfortunately these are both things that Naruto isn't exactly skilled with but that doesn't mean we can't work together,' he concluded and started thinking about how they might catch the bread thieving rat.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I do not own Naruto or One Piece

Chapter 5: Escaping Level 2

Impel Down Arc 5

x-x

One week later

x-x

As the sound of foot steps approached, a group of guards moved down the small side hallway and inspected the prison cells. It was only done once a week but was important because not every cell was covered by the den den mushi surveillance system so many of the cells needed a visual inspection to make sure that all prisoners were accounted for. Though most guards deemed it pointless, it was nevertheless an important part of the routine for every level in Impel Down.

Coming to the first cell, one of the guards looked at his clipboard and didn't see any prisoner numbers for the cell. Looking through the bars, he also found the cell empty and checked it off from his list before moving on. As the group continued down the hall and out of sight as well as finally out of earshot, a part of the wall in the first cell shifted.

Lowering the sheet and ending the cloak of invisibility technique, Naruto and Yogarasu looked in the direction where the guards had gone and gave it almost a minute before carefully folding the cloak and putting it back in the ninja pouch that was clipped to waistband of Naruto's pants. Sitting down and leaning against the wall, the blonde looked to the crow with weary eyes and asked, "Do we switch or is it still your turn on watch?"

Debating about how he felt and guessing how much time had passed since the last shift change, Yogarasu decided, "You can sleep a little longer. I'll wake you if I hear the food cart coming," he said and Naruto nodded before closing his eyes and trying to relax against the hard stone. Despite having a large number of items sealed in the three scrolls, something Naruto didn't have was an alarm clock or watch. To make sure nothing happened to them, it had been agreed upon that at any given time, one of them would always be awake.

Though it was a simple plan, implementing it proved difficult. Being a crow, Yogarasu was able to instinctively tell when dawn was approaching and wake with the rising sun. While this did help as he still felt such an instinct, it only accounted for a single time during a twenty four hour period, meaning he had no idea what time of day it was except for right around dawn. This inevitably led to a discrepancy in the amount of time they each spent awake or asleep. Some days, Naruto would be extremely tired because of either lack of sleep, too much sleep, or staying awake for longer and it also worked in reverse for Yogarasu. In the end, it was arduous primarily because there was no way to make sure everything was equal.

After a few fights, they had each decided that for survivals sake, they would just be extremely nice to each other and try not to worry about how long it seemed they each spent asleep or awake. The only thing that mattered was when food arrived and when a patrol came by. Everything else was deemed pointless unless it involved information gathering.

So far, they had each ventured outside the cell, sometimes together and sometimes just Yogarasu on his own. In a level with 'Wild Beasts', the crow found it very surprising that only some larger than average hummingbirds inhabited the floor as the only animal that could fly. Though their beaks were needle-like and they had tried to skewer him more than once, he didn't have much difficulty evading them. Therefore, with the advantage, he used it to the fullest, flying high above the snail cameras and mentally mapping the level for them.

Combined with bartering with nearby prisoners for information had helped them gain crucial information about the level and figure out where the important places were. Aside from the pit that led to Level 1, there were two other exits. The first exit was a circular stairwell that, from what they were told by other prisoners, spanned the entire height of the underwater prison, from above Level 1 all the way to the believed bottom of Level 5. It was said to be the main transportation pathway for nearly all prisoners and guards to move throughout the prison but on Level 2 it was protected by a very large, lion-like creature known as the Sphinx that literally slept just outside the large door that led to the staircase.

The second exit was an elevator situated a good distance from the circular stairwell. Like the stairs, it was offset from the center of the prison and it was believed to also go to all five or six levels. Unlike the stairway door, the elevator was protected by several portcullis' and to some extent, the other creatures that roamed the floor. Yogarasu had only seen the elevator used a handful of times but when he did see it, food was always being brought through it, which told them that the food and drink for meals was not stockpiled on their level but came from elsewhere.

In addition to bread and water for prisoners, the crow had also seen huge slabs of meat being brought up to feed all of the beasts on the level each day. The feedings occurred at almost the same time for the beasts as it did the prisoners. This was some of the most vital information that they had gotten since coming to Level 2 because it meant that, for a brief moment each day, the beasts that roamed the level may be distracted with feeding and all move to certain locations where they were fed. It was even possible that the doorway to the circular staircase may not be attended to by the Sphinx during that time.

This presented a difficult decision for them on escaping as they had no idea how to use the elevator but if they could get access to the stairwell, the question became, 'Should we try to get up to the uppermost level or try to find a place to hide further in?' It was the primary question that they had been debating in the two days since the discovery was made. There was also the tube to the Crimson Hell to consider because it was not ninja proof and would take them up to Level 1 but from there it would be difficult to get across the dangerous grass and trees landscape.

From speaking with other prisoners, they learned that Level 3 was referred to as the Starvation Hell and was rumored to be far larger than Level 2 and with no beasts or guard patrols. To Yogarasu, that seemed like the ideal place to plan a breakout from. 'It would give us time to work on using Earth nature chakra which could provide more avenues for escape,' thought the crow once again as he looked over to the snoozing blonde.

Naruto was of the opinion that they should try and get into the Level 2 security room before attempting anything else. Yogarasu had discovered the location of the room and it was something he had memorized in case they needed it. The former jinchuuriki argued that access to uniforms and weapons, as well as surveillance could allow them to move to a higher level without much difficulty if they could fake being a guard. With a stolen uniform and weapon, they could discover much more about the prison than if Naruto stayed in cuffs and striped prison clothing.

'He does make a good argument on the matter,' admitted Yogarasu as he thought over the possibilities of getting access to a uniform, which was better than using a henge because it didn't require chakra. 'Though his trick with the food cart is getting us much more bread and water than other prisoners,' the crow recalled with a slight smirk as he considered their next move, 'With his cuffs gone and his injuries nearly healed we should be able to start making bigger moves. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad to have a look in the security room. I've never witnessed food brought to the guards in the room or seen them make shift changes so it's possible that they have their own supplies. We only don't have a good plan for getting into the room without alerting the whole level.'

Moving closer to the bars before settling down in a sitting position, Yogarasu peered through the metal enclosure down the hallway and made sure he had a good vantage point in case something came by. At some point, they should be expecting food and water but he couldn't be certain about how long it would take. 'The other thing we need to consider, is that we may not be alone in the cell forever,' the crow suddenly thought as they had been lucky so far that no one new had been brought in and placed in the cell they were occupying.

'Whatever we do, it needs to be done soon. Hopefully we've saved enough,' he thought before his hearing picked up something. Commotion from the bigger hallway alerted him that something was going on and he soon heard the telltale signs of the food carts arriving. Hopping across the cell to the blonde and disregarded any nicety as he pecked Naruto's chest a few times.

Waking up and cursing, Naruto wanted to smack the crow before he realized what being woken up in such a manner meant. "Food or something else?" he quickly asked and Yogarasu replied, "Food," to which Naruto nodded before going through handseals. Helping with the chakra control, they quickly created five normal clones and patiently waited for the daily meal delivery. Adding a small amount of chakra to his ears, Naruto enhanced his range of hearing and picked up the movement of a cart even from his position at the back of the cell.

Yogarasu had taught him how to perform such minor enhancements in the past few days after a brief excursion outside the cell in which the crow told him to enhance his hearing and Naruto simply responded with, "How do I do that?" It only required the user to send more chakra to the ear to stimulate the auditory senses. With more experience and finer chakra control, the user could increase their range and pick up even the faintest sounds.

As a cart and group of guards moved down their hallway, Yogarasu hid as best as he could among the fake prisoners and waited for the guards to pass. As always, a glass of water and piece of bread for each prisoner was placed at the cell door. While the cart and guards moved on, Naruto waited for them to get an appreciable distance away while he began fishing a few items out of his pouch. He could hear the other prisoners in their cells down his small corridor scrambling for their meals and even fighting but paid them no mind as he got up and took the water glasses as well as five of the bread loaves into the cell.

Leaving the last one, he pulled out the special fabric he'd had since his academy days and placed it up against the cell to hide his presence from those outside. One side of the cloak touched the stone wall while Naruto waited at the other side up against the bars and tried his best to hold up the material with one hand while he readied a loop of metal wire and waited. It would only take the guards until they finished feeding all the prisoners before they came around again to collect the cups, 'More than enough time if one of them makes an appearance again,' the blonde thought while closing his eyes and listening for prey.

He didn't have to wait long for a scurrying sound of claws on stone and he smirked slightly as the large rat or even weasel-like creature came to the end of his hallway and looked for food to snatch. Neither occupant of the cell knew whether the creatures were merely food for the larger beasts or filled an intended purpose of following around the food carts and stealing bread before the prisoners could get it but Naruto wasn't going to complain about it, especially now that he knew how to catch them.

The bunshin were all motionless in the cell with only Naruto and Yogarasu breathing and waiting for the creature to finally make its move. Opening his eyes as he heard it bolt towards the stray loaf of bread, Naruto waited for exactly the right moment before moving the loop of wire out through the square gap in the grid pattern of the cell bars.

The loop went around the creatures neck as it moved for the bread and Naruto yanked back on it, tightening the loop and trapping the creature against the hard cell bars. Before it could cry out or even attempt escaping, he gave the wire one more tug and heard the small popping sound of the creatures neck breaking. It was too large to fit inside the gap in the bars so in combination with the wire, it allowed him to give the bread snatching animal a very quick death and left no blood on the floor for the guards to question.

Moving quickly, Naruto dropped the fabric which revealed his position right at the bars and sifted through the pouch for his lock picks. So used to stealing and running away from prisoners, the rodents were caught completely unaware by his cloak as they didn't see anyone close enough to the bars to get at them.

With the cell door unlocked, Naruto opened it just enough to pull the creature inside and then gently shut it, trying to keep it from squeaking or clanging. Setting the cloak down behind one of the clones, Naruto pulled out the preservation scroll and proceeded to seal the creature inside one of the special storage seals, right next to the other two he had captured. Putting the scroll back, he pulled out another and quickly unsealed something from his camping scroll.

The white smoke quickly dispersed and revealed two canteens that he typically used for missions. Taking the one that was only partially full, Naruto unscrewed the cap and then proceeded to pour three of the glasses of water into it, careful not to spill any of the precious clear liquid. Putting the canteen back on the storage seal, Naruto quickly tossed two of the breads with it to save time and sealed all of it back into the scroll. With everything back and secured into the ninja pouch, he was finally able to enjoy the simple meal with Yogarasu as they ate and drank silently.

Splitting the waters and each eating two breads, the glasses were put back outside the bars and the pair waited with the fake clones for the guards to come back. "Do you even think those things will taste good?" Naruto questioned, breaking the silence between them.

"Who cares. By the time we're able to eat those rat things, I have a feeling that the taste won't matter at all," Yogarasu said and Naruto smirked before the cell once again became silent. Now fully awake, the blonde had no reason to go back to sleep so he decided to see if Yogarasu had thought over their choices.

"Did you make your decision?" he blurted out, confident that the crow would know exactly what he was referring to. They needed to decide what to do next and it was hard to come to a consensus with only two people who thought very differently. The either had to come to a decision or wait for the inevitable problems from not taking action.

Sighing slightly, Yogarasu took a moment before saying, "I think that the surveillance or security room deserves some looking into..." and he stopped to glare when he saw Naruto giving a triumphant smile, before continuing, "...but I still think finding somewhere to hide, learn, and plan would be better than exploring the floors above. Right now you aren't a missing prisoner and believed dead. If er can't get into that room without setting off alarms and alerting the guards that you're still alive, then there is no point in doing it."

Naruto thought over what Yogarasu had said and responded, "That presents a problem as I can't think of a foolproof method to get in without using force. Let me get a look at the area first and then decide where to go from there. The easiest way would be to use a henge of a guard or even of another prisoner dressed as a guard, that way no one knows that it's me." It was a sort of compromise but given their lack of time and situation, Yogarasu nodded in agreement before asking, "When should we start?"

"Tomorrow, perhaps just after they come with food and leave before they come back for the glasses," Naruto thought and Yogarasu agreed as it sounded like an ideal time. 'Guards will be walking around with or without carts and the creatures will be feeding as well,' the crow expected and though they were quickly both silent as guards came by to get the cups, individually, they were each satisfied by the outcome.

x-x

The following day

x-x

Having both gotten sleep since the previous days meal, Naruto and Yogarasu were ready to go when the guards came with the cart. Sealing everything up, including the full glasses, Naruto picked the lock on the cell door. Making a familiar cross shaped handseal, a second Naruto appeared next to the first and Yogarasu jumped on it's shoulder before both blondes formed a single handseal for the transformation jutsu.

When the smoke dispersed, two guards that greatly resembled those that had just passed, were standing in the cell. The clone allowed Yogarasu control of it's body and shut the cell door behind them before walking down the corridor and into the main hallways of the level. The henge included rifles but the weapons were completely fake, merely realistic looking props that would disperse if it left their hands.

No guard that Naruto had ever seen walked by themselves. Impel Down apparently followed the buddy-system with at least everyone working in a pair or in groups of three or four. It was likely because of this and how Naruto perfectly copied the uniforms, that when they walked by the full prison cells, the eating prisoners ignored them completely. 'It probably helps that they're starved and parched but I'd like to think my abilities and observation played a small part,' Naruto thought as the pair walked straight for the door to the security room.

In an entire level of prison cells and bars, the wooden door stood out rather well. It also helped to emphasize what the room was that one of the snails was positioned right on the wall by the door and aimed directly at the entryway. Glancing around and seeing the door coming up fast, Naruto questioned to his fellow guard, "How exactly do you want to do this? We never actually came up with a good method to get in beforehand and looking at the area...one door, no windows, no discernible vents."

It was something that Naruto had been agonizing over for the past day. How exactly would they get into the room and what would they do about the guards inside. He couldn't feel how many were inside and with the room encased in the stone architecture of the level, with no discernible dimensions, it was difficult to tell how many guards could fit inside. Though both were feeling stronger than when they first arrived on the level, Naruto wasn't sure how many armed guards he could handle, 'Especially since our guns are fake, and they might have some kind of panic button,' the blonde idly thought as he waited for Yogarasu to answer.

"Let me give something a try first before you go and attack everyone," said the crow as despite not being sure it would work, with the combined henge, he had enough chakra to give it a try. The only other options were to talk their way in, smash through with explosives or Naruto's Sage Mode but neither were the ideal choices.

Walking up to the door, the pair found that it did not have a key hole or even a handle and so Naruto looked to the snail and waved while Yogarasu knocked on the door. It wasn't long before someone answered and opened it. Standing in the arched doorway, a curious guard looked them over before asking, "What do you two want? Aren't you on meal duty?"

"I wanted to show you something?" said a voice that was slightly different than Yogarasu's and Naruto watched as his counterpart closed his left eye and then opened it a second later, revealing a Sharingan. Naruto was about to say something when the man that had just spoken to them, collapsed and he was forced to catch the man before landing on the floor.

Naruto blinked for a second before realizing that he couldn't lose such an opportunity and grabbing the man underneath the armpits, he dragged the uniformed guard through the doorway and into the room. "We need some help here!" he yelled to anyone that was inside the surveillance room and said, "He just collapsed for no reason."

Four other guards immediately dropped what they were doing to come and see what happened, crowding around the unconscious guard. Naruto laid the man down flat and pretended to check vitals while Yogarasu began staggering and nearly fell to the ground as he acted injured.

"Pull yourself together. What's wrong with you?" asked one of the guards before Yogarasu turned to them and said, "It's happening to me too." Holding a hand over his left eye, he quickly uncovered it while saying, "Is there something wrong with my eye?"

All four men looked into the Sharingan and it spun slightly before the technique took effect and they quickly collapsed to the floor. Closing the eye again, Yogarasu looked to Naruto with a smile while asking, "Impressed?"

"That's messed up," was Naruto's eloquent response as he looked to the downed guards. "I said I wanted to try something," defended Yogarasu and as he opened the eye slightly Naruto quickly responded, "Hey, don't point that thing at me," while trying not to look directly into the eye. It reminded him of the time he had seen Kakashi do something similar but he hadn't been expecting it or knew that Yogarasu was capable of using the eye so well.

"Get over it," said the transformed crow as he closed the eye again and kept it closed for the moment. "Seems we won't have to worry, the camera room has no cameras in it," Yogarasu commented and Naruto blinked before then getting a good look at the room they were in. One very large snail was sitting in the center of the room with multiple cables attached to it while numerous monitors lined two walls of the rectangular room. Though the blonde noted that there were more rooms attached, he didn't hear anyone back there. Looking to the downed men, the blonde suddenly wondered, "Wait, how did that even work? They don't have chakra,"

Yogarasu stopped his motions to grab and move the guards as he looked to the blonde and said, "Perhaps they don't have chakra but they still have something," and motioning to the guards, Naruto got the hint and took the legs while Yogarasu grabbed the arms and they lifted the man into the air to move him. "What do you mean, something?" Naruto asked as he wanted a better and more detailed explanation.

"The Sharingan can see chakra and even gives it color so it is easier to see or distinguish. Although I don't see that when I look at these people, I am still able to see some kind of energy. It shows up differently than chakra but it is nonetheless still there," the transformed bird informed him as they set one of the guards into a nearby chair and then moved to get the next one.

"I wanted to try and see if genjutsu and hypnosis would still work on them and apparently it does, despite them not having a chakra network," Yogarasu said while they lifted the second guard and moved him to a seat at the monitors that showed various views of the current happenings in Level 2.

"So instead of chakra they have something else?" Naruto asked, wondering what the power gave them and how it might be different than chakra. Up until that point, he didn't believe they possessed anything similar at all but couldn't be sure when it came to the devil fruits that he had heard about.

"No, I don't quite think that is correct," replied Yogarasu while positioning himself to lift the third guard, "If I had to guess, I would say that they don't combine their physical and spiritual energy together like ninja do, or rather, they can't. So instead of chakra, the two energies stay separate."

Placing the third guard at a table where a game of cards was in the middle of being played, Naruto helped position the man before asking, "So, you manipulated their spiritual energy to create a genjutsu?" Yogarasu thought about the question as they moved to the last guard and planned to put him across from the third at the table, "I suppose that is what happened. The energy they possess appears to be spread evenly throughout the body, so it would also be in the brain and eyes as well as connected or in contact in some fashion to everything else in the body. The Sharingan makes use of direct eye contact to help create genjutsu in the target. That could be the reason why it worked so well or perhaps normally cast genjutsu and auditory genjutsu work also. That would require more investigating, which we don't have time for."

With the last guard placed, Yogarasu went to each of them and opened up their eyelids before using his Sharingan on them once again. "Hey, what are you doing now?" questioned Naruto, as despite knowing that time was precious he found himself very curious about everything that had happened.

"I believe I can make it seem like they had a dream or something by using an additional genjutsu on top of the hypnosis I used to put them to sleep," answered the crow and Naruto just responded with, "Seriously," to which Yogarasu nodded and then added, "If we arrange them properly, we can also make them think that they just fell asleep on the job."

"Won't that use up a lot of your chakra?" the blonde asked and Yogarasu shrugged slightly before admitting, "It will use up some of mine but mostly yours from this clone. However, if we manage to get out of here undetected because of this, it'll be worth it."

Naruto initially disliked the idea of losing his chakra for the technique but he nodded in understanding at the explanation. A few seconds passed before he realized that he should be doing something and not just standing around. Moving to the nearby monitors, he looked over each screen and got a much larger picture of what Level 2 looked like.

Looking through the images, he saw the guards feeding various creatures in different areas of the level with the sphinx not having to move from it's spot at the main door as food was brought to it. 'This has got to be the most technology that I've seen so far,' commented the blonde as aside for the firearms, the new world he had been sealed into seemed less technologically advanced than his own. 'Although we still used sailing ships,' admitted the former jinchuuriki as he looked over the various controls and tried to determine what all they did.

Pulling up a chair, the shadow clone Yogarasu looked over the instruments and though Naruto didn't want to admit it, the crow seemed more adept at figuring everything out. Switching views, Yogarasu quickly discovered that he could not only change cameras but possibly change floors and he began cycling through and experimenting to see what all he could see.

"Well, while you're figuring this out, I'll go take a look in the other rooms," said Naruto as he got up to leave and the clone merely nodded in affirmation. Walking through the arched opening, Naruto found himself in a dark backroom that was apparently used for storage. Looking for a light switch so he could illuminate the shelves and cabinets that he could see the outlines of, he finally found a large switch on the wall. 'More like a lever,' he commented as he pulled it and lights above him flickered on.

Eyes widening slightly, the blonde stood in a much larger storage room than he thought. The area was at least ten meters long and filled with various shelves, cabinets and wooden crates. Glancing to the other side of the room, he saw another entryway and peeked in to see a small break room with some kind of closet and a table for the guards.

Staying in the supply room, Naruto went to the nearest crate and removed the long, rectangular cover. 'Rifles,' he realized and picking one up, he found it slightly heavy but kept his finger away from the trigger and whatever mechanism was on top. Setting the weapon back down, he went over to other crates and removed their covers to find more weapons and even larger versions. Opening the cabinets, he looked at black pitchforks, extra handcuffs, and a few other items.

Glancing over the shelves and items, Naruto pulled out a scroll and set it on the ground, unrolling it to an empty storage seal. Taking one of the creates full of the bigger rifles, he placed it on the scroll and began taking other items that might be useful, setting them on the crate. Moving to the break room, he searched through drawers but only found a few utensils, some spices and other items but no food. Turning to the closet, he opened the door and found something promising.

Sitting on several shelves and in large crates, were numerous plastic bottles of clear fluid. Not being labeled, he broke the seal on one of the bottle caps and sniffed the opening. Putting his finger in and then taking it out, he tasted it to find no trace of salt or other additive, just pure water. Grabbing several bottles, he then stopped and looked to the cases that were stashed below.

Leaving the break room with two cases and a few bottles stacked on top, Naruto set them down and then sealed everything into the scroll. As he moved out of the supply room and was about to throw the lever to turn off the lights, the blonde stopped and looked to the wall. Sitting next to the lever was a small cabinet that was filled with key rings. On each ring was an identical set of six keys. Grabbing one set for himself, he switched off the light and left.

"We need to hurry, but you should look at this first ," he heard Yogarasu's voice and Naruto moved to the monitor to see what the crow had found. "This is our level," Yogarasu said and then with a flick of one of the switches, all of the monitors changed to set of different views. They now showed a desert-like landscape with various buildings, some that were well kept and others that seemed to be falling over, resembling part of an abandoned civilization.

"That is apparently Level 3," revealed the crow and Naruto stared at the screen before asking, "They fit a whole city and desert into this place?" which was quickly followed by, "And where is all that light coming from?" The level appeared to be under a bright sun that illuminated the barren landscape and created a few short shadows.

"I'm not sure but it appears to be a good place to hide in and provide means for learning Earth nature chakra," said Yogarasu and Naruto agreed, though he wondered about the level called the Starvation Hell. "This also shows us Level 1 through 4 but aside from the outside door to Level 5, nothing else is shown of the interior. We also don't have any views of the outside or the area above Level 1, however you were right that there is a Level 6," Yogarasu informed him and Naruto was listening but was more concerned about leaving.

Before Yogarasu was even out of his chair and standing, a knocking at the door caused three eyes to widen. Both turned to stare at the door, knowing that they should answer it but still found it difficult to move. Glancing to the view that showed just beyond the outer door, Yogarasu saw two guards with one of the food carts, but it looked rather different from the normal carts for the prisoners.

Making a motion to the blonde, Naruto got the hint and moved to the door. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, he opened the door and greeted the two guards. "Here's your lunch," said one of them and it was a second before Naruto realized that he needed to open the door farther for the cart to be pushed in. Letting the guard enter, he looked towards Yogarasu to see what the crow wanted to do. The unconscious guards were still in plain view.

Moving into the room, the two guards stopped, looking at what they believed were fellow guards sleeping on the job. "Damn," commented one of the men, "You surveillance guys have it too easy." Both shook their heads and Naruto just looked nervous while he fake laughed and hope the two would go away. Glancing to a rifle nearby, he thought he could get to it and hit both of the men before they had a chance to do anything but he was surprised when they turned around and nodded before walking back out the door.

Closing it behind the two, Naruto looked to a surprised Yogarasu and then to the cart. A smell was wafting from the stacked, covered dishes and Naruto found it very hard to resist going over and taking a look. "There are four guards here and six dishes," commented Yogarasu and Naruto looked up realizing what the transformed crow was saying, 'At any point, the other two guards could come back,' and despite such a fact, he still moved over and lifted off one of the covers.

Steam rose and revealed a large piece of meat as well as a side of vegetables. The sight and smell caused Naruto's mouth to watered which was surprising considering how dehydrated he still was from rationing and saving their water. Though initially against it, Yogarasu too found himself edging closer to the dish as the smell finally came over to him.

"I should be able to suggest that they already ate lunch, but it's going to use up more chakra," said the crow and Naruto merely gave a thumbs up before taking out his preservation scroll and picking which of the four dishes he wanted to take with them.

x-x

Closing the door as they left the surveillance room, Yogarasu took the lead as he recalled where the stairwell entrance was and they tried to move through the prison with confidence as if they belonged. Both had taken a real rifle to make them look more official but they had no idea what they would say if they met up with anyone else or were questioned about what they were doing walking the floor.

"We should have tried posing as guards sooner," Naruto commented in a low voice but Yogarasu quickly disagreed, "We're relying on luck right now. As we move, we're both going in and out of being on camera. This level's guards are not paying attention but anyone else could also be looking and if someone from another level spots two sets of similar looking guards in different monitors or wonders what we are doing, they may figure us out. We also don't want to run into anyone else because they could recognize us."

"You really take the fun out of this covert spy stuff," said Naruto in a joking manner and Yogarsu huffed before saying, "This isn't funny. I still can't believe we've made it this far without getting discovered."

"Are we there yet?" asked the blonde which caused his partner to admonish him before replying, "The stairwell entrance is just up ahead and to the left." Making their way to the correct location, Naruto and Yogarasu walked down the tall arched hallway and entered into a large room that was the intersection of three hallways and one staircase. 

Staying in the hallway, both fake guards looked around and it wasn't hard to spot the large creature sleeping in front of the the door they were after. It was an odd color between gray and purple with much lighter feather like segments of it's body but overall it looked like a large lion. Even from sixty or more feet away, they could hear its breathing and once Naruto managed to take his eyes off the strange creature, he began looking for the snails.

"There are two in this room," confirmed Yogarasu as he knew what the blond was looking for the moment Naruto started searching along the walls. "So they cover the door with two snails but not the hallways to the door?" questioned Naruto and Yogarasu nodded.

"You think we can sneak past him?" asked the blonde but the disguised crow was unsure. He had kept his distance from the creature to scout and hadn't tried to see how deep of a sleeper the Sphinx was. 'Its just eaten so I guess we just tiptoe across the floor but maybe we should do something about the snails first,' the blonde thought and lifting up the rifle he was carrying. He peered down the sight and aimed towards one of the snails, just to see if he could get a shot but Yogarasu put a hand on the upper portion of the barrel and Naruto frowned before recalling why he couldn't use the weapon.

'It makes a lot of noise,' he recalled before leaning the weapon against the wall and reaching back for kunai. "That's a long distance," commented the crow and Naruto hated to admit it, but, "And I'm not that good of a shot with kunai."

"You could fly up and knock them off," the blonde suggested but before Yogarasu could say anything, a strong gust of wind moved down the hallway they were in. Both prisoners looked back and saw the shadow of a creature approaching. The dark apparition on the stone floor grew larger and clearer as it got closer to the end of the hallway and they both recognized what it was. 'The chicken-lizard,' Naruto thought and he noted that it seemed to be sniffing at the ground when the tip of it's scaled beak came into view at the end of the hallway and began turning in the direction of the hallway they were in.


End file.
